Close To Home
by XsunflowerX
Summary: AU A case hits too close to Casey and she gets thrown off the case. Who will be there to prosecute the case and more importantly how can Olivia help Casey and her niece find closure? CO. R
1. Prologue

**Hi all. This is my first ever multi-chapter SVU story. Yay me!! I don't really know where the inspiration for this came up, but I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth.**

**  
Disclaimers are as follows -  
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**-I do NOT own SVU or its Characters**  
**-I DO own this storyline**  
** and**  
**- I DO own Kaitlyn**

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Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler strode through the hospital and right up to the information desk.

Not fifteen minutes ago the two detectives were typing out DD5s before they got a phone call to come to St Katherine's hospital. Slightly irritated, and more than tired, it was Olivia who spoke first.

"I'm detective Benson, this is my partner detective Stabler," she introduced, flashing her badge, with Elliot following suit. "Someone called us about a possible rape victim?"

"That would be me," a voice informed from behind. Both detectives turned around to see a pair of blue-gray eyes belonging to a female with a set of green scrubs on. "I'm Doctor Chelsea Bryant; the attending."

Olivia pointed to herself. "Detective Benson." She then pointed to Elliot. "Detective Stabler. What happened?"

Chelsea led them both to the waiting room and sat down with them, leaning forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "She was rushed in on a gurney after a street lamp got in the way of her car," she explained. "While we were taking care of her injuries I had asked what caused her car accident; trying to take her mind off of stitching her up, and she told me she was having severe abdominal pains. I told her I'd take a look to see what might be causing the pain and when I started for her pants, she started whimpering and backing away, screaming."

"Where is she now?" Elliot asked, looking up from the notepad he held in his hand, pen poised.

"Still in the treatment room," she answered pointing, with her thumb, over her shoulder.

Elliot nodded. "Okay, and how old is she?"

"Nineteen," Chelsea replied. Elliot scribbled that piece of information down on the notepad.

"Apart from the abdominal pain, is there anything else that could suggest abuse?" Olivia asked.

Chelsea took a deep breath. "The injuries that she sustained from the car accident were few. In fact apart from whiplash, possible bruising from the seatbelt pulling her back and stitches on her forehead the rest is all questionable."

"The rest?" Elliot asked.

"She has some very harsh bruising, some really old bruising, a stitch on her bottom lip, and five stitches under her right eye, a couple of fractured ribs, and the bones in her right hand up to her wrist are shattered."

"Shattered?"

Chelsea nodded. "And she won't tell me how."

"Okay, we'll get that from her," Olivia told Chelsea. "How did you come across the broken hand and fractured ribs?"

"Doing a routine check for broken bones from the accident. I've never seen a patient jump so far back in pain before." She shook her head in sympathy.

"Can we go and see her?"

Chelsea nodded. "Sure."

Elliot and Olivia both stood up and began walking, when Elliot stopped and turned back around. "Uh… What's her name?"

Chelsea paused in thought before looking back at the detectives. "Kaitlyn Novak."

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**Oh suspense suspense!  
Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome, and highly appreciated. I am working on chapter two right and if I'm not too tired, I may have it up pretty soon and start working on the third :)**

**-Kylie.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Told you I'd have the next chapter up.  
For Disclaimers, see Chapter One/The Prologue.**

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Olivia and Elliot looked at each other in shock and turned back to Chelsea with pale faces.

_Stay professional Benson!_ Olivia chastised herself. "Novak?" Olivia questioned.

Chelsea nodded with a small smile. "Yeah."

"How is that spelt?"

"Uh… Just give me a sec." She walked briskly to the information desk and scanned the folders that sat there. She walked back to the detectives. "N-O-V-A-K."

Elliot and Olivia looked at one another again before looking at Chelsea.

"Thanks," Olivia said with a forced smile. She began walking down the hall when she felt a strong arm pull her back. She glared at Elliot.

"Before you start beating me up, just listen to me for a second," he started in a low voice so no one would overhear them. "If you go in there all gung ho and ask her straight up, if she's related to Casey, she will shut down if she is and we will get nowhere."

Olivia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes again and looked at Elliot. "I know." She shrugged free from Elliot's grip. "I know."

"Okay," he nodded. "Let's go."

He and Olivia walked down the hall and to the treatment room. Olivia knocked on the door and waited for a response from the dark headed girl lying on the bed, looking out of the window. She slowly turned her head and, if possible, her face paled even more that what it already was. Elliot and Olivia's faces also paled at the bruises and contusions all over her face. They instantly felt empathy for the pain that Kaitlyn was obviously going through.

"Hi, I'm detective Benson," she began in her soothing tone of voice, reserved especially for the victims. "This is detective Stabler. Do you mind if we come in?" She asked.

Kaitlyn began to tremble slightly. "I… I wasn't speeding," she said quickly and just above a whisper. "I told the n…nurse that I had bad, really bad stomach cramps. I… I swear," she faltered, a look of fear unmistakable amongst her bruises.

Olivia shook her head. "No, no. We're not investigating your car accident." Olivia stepped further into the room, but stopped when Kaitlyn started to inch further away. "We're here because Doctor Bryant called us in."

Kaitlyn tried as best she could to narrow her eyebrows in confusion but found it too painful. She cocked her head to the side instead. "Why?"

Olivia took in a deep breath. "She seems to think that you've been hurt by someone."

"Well I haven't." Kaitlyn's answer could not have come quick enough and both detectives did not miss the slight edge in her voice. Kaitlyn turned her head so that she was staring out of the window once more, silently hoping that the detectives would leave.

Elliot and Olivia walked a little bit further in to the room and stopped about a foot away from the hospital bed.

"There's a _lot_ of physical evidence that suggest other wise."

Kaitlyn shook her head slowly. "There's no evidence unless I tell you directly that I've been abused." Even though she was scared out of her mind, (and it showed), the bluntness and the truth in that one statement was enough to tell them both that she knew her stuff.

Olivia nodded. "Fair enough; you have a point, but –"

Whatever Olivia was about to say was cut off by moans of pain coming from Kaitlyn who had her hands pressed firmly on her stomach. With her eyes squeezed shut, she bit down hard on her bottom lip, busting her stitch open, to stop from screaming in pain. Both Elliot and Olivia went to each side of the bed and Olivia began rubbing her back in an attempt to try and soothe her out of her pain.

When it passed, Kaitlyn took a couple of deep breaths and licked her lips, opening her eyes, slowly. When she saw who the hand belonged to, she instantly shrugged Olivia off and moved over on the bed.

Despite Olivia's curiosity she looked over to Elliot and said, "Go and get Doctor Bryant."

As he made a move to leave, Kaitlyn grabbed his wrist firmly. "Please don't leave," she begged meekly.

Elliot looked at Olivia before nodding hesitantly. "Okay."

"I'll go get the doctor." Before Olivia left the room she stared at Elliot with a look that told him to persuade Kaitlyn to, at the very least, answer his questions. After he nodded subtly Olivia walked out of the room.

"At least let Doctor Bryant figure out what your stomach pains are about," Elliot said in his fatherly tone as he reached over to get a tissue from the box for Kaitlyn's bleeding lip.

"It will pass."

Elliot shrugged with a smirk. "Better to be safe than sorry."

Kaitlyn turned to look at Elliot. "Why _exactly_ did the doctor call you? I assume that what she said is your guys' evidence?"

"She told us that when she started to examine you, you started to freak out a bit," he responded.

"I didn't freak out," she mumbled as she turned away again.

"And there is a lot of bruising and deep cuts on your face that couldn't have come from the car accident."

Kaitlyn shrugged. "I play baseball. Who'd of thought it could be such a violent sport?"

Elliot drew in a deep breath. He didn't understand how Olivia could handle being driven in circles by a victim. "Kaitlyn, it's normal to deny that abuse has happened, but if it has happened you need to tell us so that we can catch the guy who did this to you before he hurts another girl."

"It won't happen," she mumbled.

Elliot got up and walked over to the other side of the bed so Kaitlyn could look at him. "How can you be so sure it won't?"

"Because it _just won't_."

Elliot was almost pleading now. "Then go through an examination so we can find this guy for _you_."

Before Kaitlyn could reply, a knock sounded at the door. Elliot looked up to see Chelsea and Olivia standing at the door.

Elliot looked directly into Kaitlyn's eyes. "Think about it," he said gently before walking out of the treatment room and to the waiting room, while Chelsea fixed Kaitlyn's stitch.

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"I tried to get you more time –"

"It's okay," Elliot cut Olivia off. "I think she's coming around."

"I wonder why she took to you," Olivia thought out loud.

"Maybe you're losing your touch?" Elliot quipped with a shit eating grin.

Olivia playfully punched his arm and shook her head. There was a moment's pause between them before Olivia said, "I was thinking that maybe she's not related to Casey."

"How do you figure?" Elliot asked.

"Dark hair, darkish complexion…"

"You still can't rule it out. Maureen and Kathleen have blonde hair and blue eyes. Elizabeth has red hair and brown eyes. You take traits from both parents Liv; not necessarily relatives." Elliot nudged Olivia. "We're gonna figure this out – whether she's related to Casey or not."

Olivia nodded. "Okay."

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**Review Review Review guys. I'm working on the next chapter as you read, but it won't be up unless I get some reviews, so hit that little button.  
**


	3. Chapter 2

**Bare with me folks, it's 3:53 in the morning and I am tired, very tired. But I pulled through and managed to type up the next installment of Close To Home for you all, so enjoy :)  
-Kylie**

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"It does not take this long to stitch a person up," Olivia let out. It had been over an hour since Chelsea had gone in to treat Kaitlyn and her bleeding lip and she hadn't returned. Olivia was slowly starting to become irritated. She had spoken to the nurse at the desk about getting records of the accident, but could only come up the license plate number – which was an out of state one at that. If she wanted to learn anything more about the accident, she was to call the police who were on the scene at the time it occurred. She leaned forward in her seat and put her head in her hands as her arms rested on the arm rests. 

Elliot stood up and stretched before turning around to face Olivia. "Do you want a coffee?" He offered.

Olivia looked up and smiled. "From your mouth to God's ears. I am dying for one, thanks."

Elliot chuckled as he walked over to the coffee machine. Just as he walked away, Chelsea came walking out of the treatment room wearing a troubled expression.

"El!" Olivia called out as she stood up. She figured that since Kaitlyn had seemed to form an attachment to him, it may help later on if he knew what was wrong.

Elliot walked up next to Olivia, coffee-less, and waited for Chelsea to start talking. The fact that she was carrying a chart with Kaitlyn's name on it didn't go unnoticed.

"She agreed to let me examine her –"

"She went through the examination by herself?" Elliot spat. "I told her to think about it."

Chelsea nodded. "Well she thought about it and she told me that it would be okay to examine her." Chelsea fiddled with her pen and, again, this did not go unnoticed. She felt like she was breaking news of death to a member of Kaitlyn's family. When she realized that both Olivia and Elliot were staring, she stopped fiddling and took a deep breath. "It was a good thing that you talked her around, detective."

"What did you find?" Olivia asked as she got a notepad of her own from her jacket pocket.

Chelsea opened up the chart and pulled out a plastic bag. When she handed it to Olivia she saw her face twist into confusion. "_That's_ what we found."

"What are these?" Olivia asked as she held the bag in front of her face and turned it around slowly. "Splinters?"

"That's exactly what they are." Elliot and Olivia's eyes widened. "She was raped, and whoever raped her has a sick sense of humor." She ran a hand through her brown curly hair and continued. "They penetrated whatever it was so deep and hard that her hymen has been completely torn apart; not to mention the amount of stitches we needed to stitch her vaginal walls back up. This girl has been through torture."

"So it's safe to say that that is the reason for her cramps?" Elliot asked.

"Without doubt."

"Has she been sexually abused for a long period of time or –"

"She's been sexually abused before. There are several sets of bruising on the inside of her thighs; I'd say that she's been abused quite a lot during this recent week. One set has almost gone, a few are fading away, and there's a set that's very fresh like it could have happened within the last twenty-four hours."

"What about the rape?" Olivia asked. "How long ago was that?"

"From the amount of blood that stained her panties and that was on her thighs it was definitely within the last twenty-four hours."

"Did you do a rape kit?" Olivia asked, looking up from her notes.

"I did one as soon as I extracted the splinters. There's nothing."

"What do you mean 'nothing'?"

"There's no fluids, no hairs, no fibers – nothing apart from those splinters."

"How is that even possible?" Elliot asked.

Chelsea shrugged apologetically. "You'd have to ask your rapist."

"Yeah somehow I doubt that he's going to be willing to share that information with us," Elliot quipped. "Thanks Doctor Bryant."

Chelsea smiled. "That's okay. She's refused to stay here overnight, and we can't force her to stay so she's just getting changed; a nurse will bring her out soon. If there's anymore questions just give me a shout."

Both Elliot and Olivia gave their thanks and they sat back down waiting for Kaitlyn, while Chelsea tended to her other patients.

Feeling a wave of fatigue, Olivia stifled a yawn. "How about that coffee, El?" Olivia asked as she ran her hands through her hair.

Elliot nodded his head with a small smile. "Sure."

Olivia crossed her right leg over her left and waited; both for her coffee and for Kaitlyn. As she waited, she pulled out her notebook and Elliot's (he had left his jacket in a heap on the next chair) and read over both of their notes.

When she had finished, she placed the notepads back where they belonged and found a coffee on the table next to her and her partner sitting beside her.

Olivia smiled her thanks and blew on her coffee before taking a sip and cringing. Hospital coffee was always the worst. It was worse than the coffee at the precinct and the coffee at the precinct was pretty terrible – depending on who brewed it.

Elliot looked at his watch; 10:45pm. They'd been at the hospital since eight thirty and they still hadn't really spoken to this girl. He knew that all she would want to do once she left the hospital was go and get some rest. The only problem with that was that she was obviously visiting someone and they didn't know whether that someone was in New York, Chicago or Timbuktu.

Before Elliot could dwell on the situation any more he saw Kaitlyn being wheeled out of the treatment room in a wheelchair, much to her obvious objection. The nurse stopped the wheelchair in front of the detectives and smiled. "She's all yours." With a nod of her head, she turned and walked back behind the desk.

Kaitlyn looked up at Elliot with tired eyes. "Do we have to go through this now?"

Elliot thought about it. There was a lot of information that she could lose between now and tomorrow morning and he didn't want to chance it. On the other hand, he didn't want to put her through more than what she already had been.

"No sweetie, not if you don't want to," Olivia answered. Kaitlyn nodded her head slowly. "But there is one question that I would like to ask," she paused to wait for any kind of reaction from Kaitlyn to tell her to continue. When she slowly looked over at Olivia, she continued. "You wouldn't happen to be related to a Casey Novak would you?"

Kaitlyn's eyes widened before she put her head in her hands and started to mumble incoherently. When she finally picked her head back up, she looked between the two. "Of all the cops in all of New York City you two _had_ to be the ones to catch this case." She took a breath to steady her breathing. "You _can't_ tell her anything. I know my rights."

"That's true," Elliot finally spoke up. "But what exactly are we supposed to say when we take you to her apartment? Especially with your injuries. She's a prosecutor; she'll put two and two together."

"And come up with nothing. It's circumstantial at best."

"Okay," Olivia started. "So you get to her apartment with us, she sees your injuries and you say what?"

"Exactly what I had planned before I had the car accident and everything got blown _way out of proportion._"

"Way out of proportion?" Olivia repeated incredulously.

Kaitlyn shook her head. "I think I'm just going to go to the bus depot and go back home."

"Where the same man who raped you can rape you again?" Elliot countered. This got him a glare from Kaitlyn. "Let us take you to Casey. You'll be safer here."

"How do you know that New York was my final destination?"

"We don't. But you're here and so is Casey."

"Casey doesn't need to know I'm here," Kaitlyn tried.

"You're practically immobile at the moment, Kaitlyn," Olivia started. "What can you possibly do?" Olivia thought she saw a flash of fear in Kaitlyn's eyes and she could have sworn she started to shake a little bit. Before Olivia had any time to fire questions at her, Elliot stood up and walked behind Kaitlyn's wheelchair.

"Olivia's right. You're going to need someone to help you out." Without waiting for a response, he began pushing the wheelchair out of the hospital and out to the car. "At most, you'll need a place to stay." He helped her into the car and got in as Olivia walked back in to the hospital with the wheelchair. When she got back in to the car, they drove off to Casey's apartment. This was going to be a long night…

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**Sorry if this was a little off to you all. I don't know if I moved too fast or if it was unbelievable, but let me know by hitting that review button :)  
**


	4. Chapter 3

**Have no fear, Close To Home Chapter 3 is here!!  
Thank you to those who are reading and reviewing (at the same time, not individually) :)  
This one would have been up sooner... But the Easter Bunny came with chocolate :D****  
**

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Olivia, Elliot and Kaitlyn pulled up to the curb and stopped out the front of Casey's apartment. During the ride home from the hospital, Kaitlyn had been trying to argue her way out of this meeting; trying all different approaches. She was disappointed when the detectives told her there was no way she was getting out of it. Olivia remembered thinking that there was no mistaking her relation to Casey – she argued too much like a prosecutor.

For the remainder of the drive she sat in the back seat, regretting ever leaving her home in the first place – regardless of what she had been through.

Being the fighter that she was, she tried one more time. "Please don't make me talk to her."

Elliot turned around in the driver's seat to face her. "Kaitlyn, we're gonna be with you the entire time –"

Kaitlyn shook her head. "That's not the point," she ground out through her teeth. She took in a deep, shaky, breath and ran her free hand through her hair.

"Well help us out here."

Kaitlyn sunk back in the seat and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. When Olivia and Elliot realized she had finished talking, they got out of the car and waited for Kaitlyn to follow suit.

Knowing that if she didn't get out of the car willingly they'd go up and bring Casey down, she reluctantly, and slowly, got out of the car with Elliot's help.

As Elliot helped her out of the car, Olivia pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number of the precinct. She spoke to the captain while Elliot and Kaitlyn waited inside the apartment building, away from the February chill.

Elliot noticed the look of apprehension on Kaitlyn's face and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. Even though she saw his hand coming for her, she still couldn't help but jump in fear.

Feeling her tense up under his hand, he took his hand off. "Sorry," he apologized in a low voice.

After a moment of hesitation she managed to mumble, "it's okay."

Elliot leaned up against the wall closest to the entrance and crossed his arms over his chest. "Look Kaitlyn," he began. He then paused trying to find the right words. He was not exactly used to being this close with the victim. He rubbed his chin and took a breath. "It… doesn't feel like it right now, but everything will be okay." He emphasized this with a nod of his head.

Kaitlyn looked up at him. "I'm going to be hearing that a lot, aren't I?"

Elliot smiled ruefully. "Yeah."

Kaitlyn shook her head slowly. She looked down to the floor and shoved her left hand in her pocket while her right was in its sling. She noticed a pair of black, leather shoes and associated them with Olivia.

She stopped in front of the two of them with her hands in her pockets. Kaitlyn noticed that Olivia seemed to be dreading this as much she was. "Let's go," she said just above a whisper.

The trio slowly made their way across the hall and found themselves at the foot of a staircase. Kaitlyn looked up at it.

"This is going to be interesting," she said half to herself and half to Olivia and Elliot.

"I got it," Elliot responded. He looked Kaitlyn up and down and then pointed to her. "I gotta…"

It didn't take Kaitlyn long to realize what he was getting at. "Yeah… Whatever. Just, you know. Broken ribs and all…"

Elliot nodded. "When you feel pain, you let me know okay?" Elliot guided Kaitlyn's left arm over his head and around his neck and he slowly lifted her up.

Almost instantly Kaitlyn cried out. "Down! Down. Put me down!" She pleaded.

"What's the matter?" Olivia asked in an urgent tone.

"My ribs," she answered through her teeth as Elliot put her down on the first step. Holding on to the banister, Kaitlyn sucked in deep breaths and waited for the pain to pass.

Without saying anything to the detectives, Kaitlyn began to slowly make her way up the stairs, taking them one at a time and planting both feet on the step before moving on to the next. She turned back to the detectives. "What floor is she on?" She asked.

"Second," was Olivia's response.

Kaitlyn glared menacingly at the stairs but in the condition she was in, she seemed to be squinting at them more than anything. _Keeping that chair would have been a good thing_, Kaitlyn thought to herself amidst her pain, but she wasn't going to admit that to them any time soon. Regardless of what had happened to her, she was going to prove that she could be independent. She was going to have to prove that a lot; over and over again.

After what seemed like an eternity, Kaitlyn finally made it up the first flight, albeit, out of breath. As they waited for her breathing to return to normal Elliot, for the second time that night, looked at his watch – 11:45. They definitely weren't going to get a statement out of Kaitlyn tonight; it was too late for starters. And aside from that, he doubted that Casey would let them take her down to the station at (nearly) midnight.

When she felt like she had gained control of her breath, Kaitlyn started the agonizingly _long_ hike to the second floor of the four storey building.

"You okay?" Elliot asked.

"Please stop asking me that," Kaitlyn responded. Feeling slightly guilty she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "I'm fine. The stairs are irritating me, but I'm fine." She forced a small smile, then turned her head and continued up the stairs.

Elliot and Olivia were surprised that she was going up the stairs at all. They thought it was going to be a struggle, considering she was so stubborn about not telling Casey. They then stopped to realize that just because she was going up the stairs did not necessarily mean that she was willingly going to tell Casey why she just so happened to be on her doorstep at midnight, with two SVU detectives, and a serious amount of bruises, cuts, broken bones, and stitches.

Finally making it up the last flight of stairs, Kaitlyn turned to look at Elliot and Olivia. When they didn't say anything, she lent on the wall and doubled over as far as her ribs would allow so she could, again, catch her breath.

When she straightened back up she stared at them expectantly, waiting for them to lead her to Casey's apartment. She slowly followed them as they walked up to her door.

Hand poised over the door and in a fist, Olivia looked at Kaitlyn. "Ready?" She asked.

"No," Kaitlyn squeaked out.

_Neither am I_, Olivia thought.

As she forced herself to knock on the door she felt the butterflies start to flutter around in her stomach as she waited for Casey to answer the door. She heard a few thuds and a couple of cuss words and Olivia realized that Casey must have fallen asleep on the couch.

When the door flew open, irritated Casey very quickly turned into confused Casey. "Liv? Why didn't you just –" She stopped mid sentence when she saw Elliot step into view. "Elliot?" Casey sighed. "Let me guess, not a social call?" She took the silence as an admission. "What do you need a warrant for?" She asked in a clipped tone as she stepped aside and motioned them into her apartment.

Olivia opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find her voice. When Casey turned to face the two for an answer she raised a brow. "You don't even know what you want your warrant for. How can I convince a judge to –"

"We don't want a warrant, Casey!" Olivia half snapped determined to get the redhead to actually listen to her.

"Well then what's with the seriousness and the non social call?" Casey asked, walking over to close the door that Elliot had left open. When Elliot stepped between the door and Casey, she looked at him with irritation.

"Come and sit down, Case," Olivia said, motioning toward the couch that she assumed Casey was asleep on earlier.

"You two are making me very nervous right now," Casey said slowly as she walked toward the couch.

She watched on as Elliot had half of his body inside the apartment and half of his body hanging out of the door.

He motioned for Kaitlyn to come inside, but she shook her head and slowly began backing away from Elliot.

"Come on. I'm right here," he murmured loud enough for her to hear. "I'm not going anywhere."

Kaitlyn shook her head. "I can't."

"Yes you can, Kaitlyn."

Casey perked up in her seat. "Kaitlyn?" Before Olivia could stop her, Casey was up and over to the door trying to get past Elliot to see if it was who they were saying it was. However, the person she saw was unrecognizable. The only thing that really gave Kaitlyn away was her clothing. Casey's eyes went wide and all she wanted to do was hug the poor girl but looking at her, Casey could tell she was in pain. "Oh God…" Casey breathed.

Olivia walked over to Casey and led her to the couch. Olivia sat on the wooden coffee table opposite Casey and put her hands on the sides of Casey's legs, rubbing them with her thumbs in an effort to try and soothe her.

Casey's eyes welled up with tears, but she blinked them back.

"Baby," Olivia began, but never got the chance to finish.

"What happened?" She asked in a whisper.

"We don't have the full details from her just yet," Olivia answered gently and softly. "All we do know is what the doctor at the hospital told us."

"Hospital?"

"Elliot and I are assuming she was driving down to see you, and she had a car accident along the way. The doctor called us in because the amount of injuries didn't add up to the accident she had."

"Was she…" Casey couldn't finish her sentence. She didn't want to say what she feared.

Olivia bit her bottom lip and took a deep breath. She nodded her head. "Yes. She was."

Casey took in a sharp breath. "When did this happen?" She asked in a low voice as she stared blankly at Olivia.

"We got the call at eight fifteen," Olivia answered in an equally lower voice.

"And you didn't think to _call_ me?" Casey hissed as she stood up abruptly. "I am your _girlfriend_, Olivia. You should have let me know the _second_ you got that call!" She was careful not to be too loud so that she wouldn't scare Kaitlyn.

Olivia stood up and grabbed Casey's arms gently. She maneuvered Casey so that she was face to face with her. "We only found out she was related to you an hour ago. Do you think that if I'd known earlier I wouldn't have called you?"

Casey slumped and sniffed. She drew in a breath and let it out. "No," she whispered. "I'm sorry. I just –"

"I know. I know, it's okay." She pulled Casey into her arms and held her there for a few minutes, rubbing her back as Casey let out a few sobs.

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**This chapter got quite long so I've had to crop it off before Kaitlyn got to sit down with Casey, but I wanted to establish Casey and Olivia's relationship and more of Kaitlyn's reaction.**  
**Little People; The explanation to Kaitlyn's change will be explained within the next two chapters.**

**Let me know your thoughts :) **


	5. Chapter 4

**Hooray for the site working!!! I've had this Chapter ready for three days and the site was going nuts and wouldn't load up this page... Anyways. Props go out to ImNotThatGirl, she had to put up with my PMS, my bitching and my incoherent ramblings on this chapter, and provided much needed help.**

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Elliot had now moved out into the hall in an effort to get Kaitlyn to, at the very least, walk into Casey's apartment. Seeing that he was not succeeding, he changed the subject.

"Have the cramps calmed down?" He asked.

Kaitlyn shook her head. "No. The meds are doing nothing to ease _any_ of my pain." She sighed and readjusted herself on the wall, leaning on her shoulder. "Damn it, I wish I could sit down right now."

"Well if you came in and settled down and relaxed, you wouldn't be in as much pain," Elliot said casually.

"Nice try," she said with a smirk.

"Can't blame me for trying," he stated shrugging his shoulders. "You know," he began, "you're handling the morning after pill pretty well. You don't feel nauseous at all?"

"No," she answered shortly.

"No?" Elliot repeated.

"No."

Confusion crossed his features and he folded his arms over his chest. "That's funny. The pill is usually supposed to make you nauseous."

"Well I'm not. Can we please just drop it?"

Elliot nodded. "Sure."

An awkward silence fell between the two of them until Kaitlyn sighed and put her back against the wall. "You do know that if I still had my car, I wouldn't be here right now," she deadpanned.

"What is it about her that is making you so wary of going in there?" Elliot finally asked her. Although he still remained calm and professional, he was beginning to get very tired of getting nothing but circles from this girl. When he didn't get a response, he sighed and said, "You do know that while you are out here doing this slow dance, Casey has probably already figured it out, and Olivia has probably confirmed her suspicions."

"Detective Benson had no right to do that," Kaitlyn said coolly even though her temper was growing.

"So she was supposed to perjure herself if Casey had asked? You weren't going to tell her anytime soon."

"You're damn right I wasn't going to!" Kaitlyn snapped. At Elliot's puzzled glance she shook her head and rolled her eyes. "She's a prosecutor for the Special Victims Unit for God's sake," she began. "She sees this shit every day and she has tried _really_ hard to keep work at work and family with family." She sighed and adjusted her tone. "I'm merging those two worlds together and I don't want to be the cause of that."

"Listen to me," Elliot began in a low voice. "Regardless of what happens through out this, this was _never_ your fault. You cannot protect Casey from this ever happening to someone she loves."

Kaitlyn shook her head. "I should have tried harder."

"It wouldn't have mattered…"

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Back in the apartment, Olivia had learned that Kaitlyn was Casey's niece and that was all that had been said before silence enveloped them as Casey tried to get her head around the facts.

Not being able to put up with the silence or her thoughts any longer, Casey took a deep breath and masked her emotions by turning professional. She stood up and started pacing in front of the coffee table with her arms folded tightly over her chest.

"What did they find?"

"Sweetie –"

Casey stopped and stared intently into Olivia's brown eyes. "Liv, I need to do this," she half snapped. "_What_ did they find?"

For a split second Olivia debated telling Casey. This was too personal for her and Olivia knew that. She also knew that if she did not tell Casey, the backlash would be terrible. She sighed, giving in. "Not a lot."

"But they found something?"

"Yeah," Olivia confirmed reluctantly. She shifted, feeling uncomfortable under the scrutiny of Casey's questioning gaze.

Casey was getting irritable now; she knew that Olivia was beating around the bush. "How can I start to prosecute this case if you won't tell me anything?" She let out.

"We'll take care of everything early tomorrow morning –"

"No, I need to –"

"You need to stop. Right now." Olivia had made her way around the coffee table and was holding on to Casey's shoulders in order to stop her lover from pacing. "As much as she will deny it, she is going to need you; Casey Novak. Not Casey Novak ADA."

Casey ran her hair through her auburn hair. "I… I need to call her parents. God, how am I supposed to tell them?"

"Let's deal with one thing at time. She strikes me as the type that if you go behind her back or go over her head to do something, she won't be too pleased."

Casey shook her head. "She won't want to tell her parents, and she is too stubborn to be talked around."

Olivia smirked. "You think?"

"I just don't understand why she took a drive all the way from Jersey, instead of telling her parents…"

"There could be a lot of reasons for that, but you'd have to ask her." Olivia gently turned Casey around so she was facing the doorway where Kaitlyn and Elliot stood.

Casey's face paled at the sight of Kaitlyn. "Katie." She made a move to walk over and embrace her, but stopped when Kaitlyn took a step back.

"I hurt. Please don't. And don't call me that."

Despite being taken aback at her request, Casey managed to nod her head and keep herself together. An awkward silence filled the room as no one knew what to say or do, until Kaitlyn realized her thirst. "Casey do you have something to drink?" She mumbled.

Casey nodded her head wordlessly before she snapped out of it. "Yeah. Yeah of course. What do you want?" She asked heading off toward the kitchen.

"I don't care," she responded, running her free hand through her hair. After a few moments, Casey came back with a glass of water and began to walk over to Kaitlyn to give it to her but, remembering her earlier reaction, opted to just set the drink on the coffee table.

"Come inside and take a seat." She watched as Elliot helped Kaitlyn walk over to and sit down on the reclining chair away from Casey and Olivia. She sat perched on the edge of the chair so that she would have easy access to the glass on the table without causing any discomfort to her ribs.

Again, an awkward silence filled the room broken only by the hissing sounds coming from Kaitlyn if she moved the wrong way.

"Do… you want some pillows to prop you up?" Casey offered hesitantly.

Kaitlyn shook her head and took a small sip of her water before placing it back down on the table in front of her and staring down at the floor.

The shrill sound of Elliot's cell phone made everyone jump violently and Elliot quickly walked into the kitchen to tend to the call. As he spoke on the phone, Casey took this moment to try and talk to Kaitlyn.

"Katie…" When Casey saw her tense up at the sound of the abbreviation, she mentally kicked herself in the rear. Kaitlyn's reaction did not go unnoticed by Olivia who remained quiet. Casey moved to the last seat on the sofa near Kaitlyn and started again. "Kaitlyn –"

"I'm… really tired, Casey. I don't want to have to go through this just now, okay?" She managed to say.

"If you don't want to go through this tonight, are you going to go through it with us tomorrow?" Olivia asked, leaning forward. At Casey's glare, she regretted the interruption.

Before anyone could say anything further, Elliot walked back into the room. "That was Maureen. She's stuck at a party, needs a ride. I gotta go…"

Kaitlyn snapped her head up to look at Elliot. Fear was unmistakable in her brown eyes. "Elliot, please don't go," she pleaded in a whisper.

Elliot walked over and crouched down in front of her. "I have to. My kid needs me to pick her up," he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his cards to give to her. "If you need me, you call me."

Kaitlyn slowly nodded her head and watched as he walked out the door silently after saying a quick goodbye to Casey and Olivia. Kaitlyn looked over to Olivia. "Are you going too?" She mumbled.

Caught off guard by her question Olivia blinked in response. Was that hope she heard in Kaitlyn's voice? "Uh… Yeah. I just want to set up a time for you and Casey to come down to the precinct in the morning."

"Crap…" Casey started. "I have an early morning arraignment tomorrow… I gotta call Branch –"

"Cragen will take care of that. Just give me a time."

"Make it nine. I'll be awake," Kaitlyn answered softly.

Olivia nodded her head. "Okay. I will see you guys then." She got up and began to move to the door.

Casey was up in an instant. "I'll walk you out." As Casey opened the door, Casey stepped in close to Olivia's ear. "Where exactly are you going to stay tonight? On the street?"

"Relax," Olivia said with a small smile, attempting to put Casey at ease. "I'll spend the night in the crib. It wouldn't be the first time."

Casey closed her eyes in an effort to keep her from completely breaking on the spot. "I would really like it if you could stay with me."

"I know you would, baby, but Kaitlyn is clearly uncomfortable and I don't want to put her through any more stress for the time being okay?"

Casey nodded. "Call me the second you get there."

Speaking in double entendres and loud enough so that Kaitlyn wouldn't get suspicious – not that she was focused on their conversation – Olivia said, "Call me if you have any questions." After receiving a nod from Casey, she continued out of the apartment and down the stairs, back to the precinct.

When Casey walked back into the apartment, she was greeted by silence.

And that's how they stayed the entire night.

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**Like this chapter? Hated it? Let me know**


	6. Chapter 5

**I was on a role last night and wrote all of this down in a big case of word vomit lol. This explores a little bit of Kaitlyn and Casey's relationship, and hopefully it should clear up anyone's confusion. Thank you to all who review, And hopefully I haven't left anyone out when personally replying to my reviewers :)  
If there are questions, ask away :) other wise Read, Review and Enjoy.**

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The rest of the night rolled by slowly for both Kaitlyn and Casey. Even though Casey fixed up the bed in the spare bedroom, Kaitlyn still spent the night out in the lounge room staring blankly at the television. She settled on one of many infomercials airing and got comfortable – or as comfortable as she could get without hurting herself. Getting bored, and finding her thoughts drifting, she searched the apartment for a pencil and some paper and drew most of the night away. Something she did often to keep herself occupied and to stop herself from thinking, which she constantly did.

Casey tried every possible way to get Kaitlyn to talk about her rape but had gotten nowhere. She had learned long ago that if Kaitlyn didn't want to talk and was constantly pushed she would shut down, which is exactly what she had done. After trying to make light conversation and failing, she had reluctantly retired to bed. Casey had spent most of the night tossing and turning. The last time she looked at the clock, the bright glow of red numbers showed that it was five o'clock. Needless to say that she had slept lightly.

Having had enough, Casey threw the covers off of her body and sat up in her bed. She looked at the clock, running her hands through her hair; six thirty. She had gotten an hour and half's sleep. Rubbing her face and the sleep out of her eyes, she drew in a deep, steadying breath and got out of bed, slowly padding across the room to the door and opening it quietly.

She saw the television on and then saw that Kaitlyn had not moved all night. Casey wondered if she had slept. She decided to make her way over to her niece – whether it would be to talk or to just sit there was yet to be decided. As she sat down, she noticed multiple pieces of A4 paper scattered over the coffee table with drawings on them. Rather than picking them up and commenting on them like she usually would, Casey sat there and waited, figuring that it would be better for Kaitlyn to make the first move.

After what felt like ages, Kaitlyn finally put her pencil down. Casey could have sworn that the pencil covered with green glitter was of normal length. Taking a brief look at it, it was now about the size of her thumb and it was then that she realized that Kaitlyn had been up all night.

As if reading her mind, Kaitlyn mumbled, "I couldn't sleep." She looked to the ground, thinking of a reason. After a few moments she shrugged her shoulders and looked at Casey apologetically. "I just… couldn't."

"It's okay," Casey assured her gently. She pointed to the drawings. "You kept yourself occupied."

Kaitlyn nodded her head. "I didn't want to think. I just wanted to think about the images on the paper." Remembering that she had snooped through the apartment to find the paper and pencil she quickly justified herself. "I… I'm sorry. I should have asked… I just… I didn't want to wake you and –"

"Hey, hey," Casey said loud enough for Kaitlyn to hear over her ramblings. She placed a hand on her niece's and watched as Kaitlyn fought to jerk her hand out from under Casey's. Saving her the discomfort, Casey slowly removed her hand and continued talking. "I told you last night; if you need anything, there's no need to ask me for it. So long as you didn't ruin any legal documents – which I can see that you haven't – _it's okay_."

Kaitlyn nodded. "Okay," she whispered.

Refusing to let silence envelop them, Casey changed the subject. "Where are your things?"

"I didn't have time to grab my things. I just wanted to get out."

"Do you at least have your glasses?"

Kaitlyn shook her head. "I told you, I didn't have time."

Casey cocked her head slightly to the side in question. "Didn't have time for what?"

Kaitlyn picked up a piece of paper and the pencil and started drawing again.

"Kaitlyn please don't shut yourself off from me," Casey pleaded. "I'm on your side."

"I don't doubt that," Kaitlyn replied monotonously.

"Do your parents even know you're here?"

Kaitlyn's eyebrows narrowed in anger. "Daddy's not even home," she mumbled.

Casey nodded her head. "He's still in Australia? I thought he had come back last month?"

Kaitlyn laid the pencil on the piece of paper and rested them on her lap. "No. They postponed the trip for two months, which pushed it back by two months. The group decided they wanted to go during the end of Australia's summer, and not the middle."

"What group?"

"The group from the University. He takes a select few of his students each year to some country for an archaeological dig. He's your brother, you didn't know that?" She asked incredulously.

"I knew that, I just didn't know if he was taking students or colleagues."

"Students, Casey."

"Well… what about your mom?" She asked. Kaitlyn shrugged. "You didn't tell her?" When Kaitlyn didn't respond, she got up to walk over to the phone but stopped when she felt Kaitlyn's hand gripping her wrist tightly.

"She'll think I'm at a friend's place; like she always does whenever I'm not at home. Just leave it," she said dismissively.

"We're going to need to go back and get some of your things… " Casey trailed. When Kaitlyn didn't say anything, Casey sighed and sat back down on the couch with a huff. "You need to communicate with your parents more – especially your mom. She loves you; she just has difficulty showing it."

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes. "I'm sick of hearing that. It doesn't bring the comfort you think it does."

Turning her attention back to her drawings, Casey thought a subject change to something of interest might get her to open up a little bit more.

"I see you haven't lost your touch," she commented as she picked up a sketch of a river bank. Even though it was just a drawing, it looked so simple, yet so serene. There was a sunset in the background, a few trees that covered most of the page, an air balloon, and of course, the river. If there was a splash of color, the sketch would have looked gorgeous.

Kaitlyn smiled in spite of herself; she knew what Casey was trying to do. She had done it many times when Kaitlyn was younger; it broke the ice a lot when Kaitlyn was upset about something. But this wasn't just _something_. This wasn't going to be solved by just talking about it, and quite frankly Kaitlyn didn't want to nor was she interested in talking about it. She was constantly kicking herself mentally in the rear for how badly the original plan of keeping everything to herself had all failed. However, she decided to cooperate.

"It's a good thing I'm left handed," Kaitlyn began with a small smirk. "I'd be screwed other wise."

"If it came down to it, you'd push yourself to learn to write and draw with your right hand. You can't just sit there. You _wouldn't_ just sit there," Casey said.

"Very true." Kaitlyn held up her picture to look at before passing it to Casey. "I get it from you, you know," she said in a matter of fact tone.

"What?" Casey asked all of a sudden intrigued.

"Pushing myself to test my limits. No one else pushed me; they let me set my pace. You pushed me and taught me to push myself." She picked up another piece of paper and started drawing.

"Do you hate me for that?" Casey asked.

Kaitlyn shook her head, not taking her eyes off the paper. "No." She quickly glanced at Casey before getting back to her paper. "If I don't push myself and if my parents don't push me, who's going to?"

"I would," Casey said firmly.

Kaitlyn looked up with a raised eyebrow. "I don't live here, and you don't live in Jersey." When Casey couldn't provide a comeback, she shrugged her shoulders with a sad smile. "Guess it's a good thing I push myself then." She continued to stare at Casey before adding to her sketch. There was a brief moment of silence as Kaitlyn continued to draw and Casey looked at the sketch Kaitlyn had given her previously. "I give you credit," Kaitlyn started, breaking the silence, as she put the finishing touches on her sketch. "For about ten minutes there… I had forgotten why I was here." Dropping the paper and the pencil to the floor, she cringed and moaned a little, holding her hand firmly on her stomach. "Then of course there's that _excruciating_ pain that shoots through my freaking stomach," She ground out through her teeth.

Casey leapt off the couch. "Where are your pain killers?" She asked in a panic.

"They don't _do_ anything!"

"Where. Are. They?" She scanned the area quickly but couldn't find them anywhere. When she turned to ask Kaitlyn again where they were she stood stock still as she saw that her niece's face was turning a shade of grey and her hand had moved to the arm of the couch, which she was gripping tightly, turning her knuckles white. She had doubled over, which Casey knew would not help her ribs at all and she had her lips pursed together to stop herself from screaming in pain. This didn't work for too long as a wail escaped her lips. Casey bolted for the phone and dialed the first number that came to mind. Taking the cordless and running back over to her niece, she squatted in front of Kaitlyn and took her hand in her own, allowing Kaitlyn some type of support. "Liv!" She shouted into the phone.

"No!" Kaitlyn managed to scream out. "Don't… call her." She loosened her grip on Casey's hand and slowly sat up, breathing heavily and quickly. She looked like she had run a marathon as she sat all the way back in the chair and moaned quietly. She used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe away the beads of sweat that had formed on her forehead

"I'm going to get you some water okay?" Casey told her. She waited for any kind of reaction from Kaitlyn that told Casey she had heard her and slowly walked into the kitchen. As she opened the refrigerator door, she remembered the phone still in her head and could faintly hear the panic in Olivia's voice as she called Casey's name out. She brought the phone up to her ear and said quietly, "Get here, I need you."

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**Thank you again to ImNotThatGirl who helped me with this chapter :)**


	7. Chapter 6

**Yet another thanks to those reviewing :)  
Alerts are down - it's just one problem after another with this site, but yeah, at least I can load this up.  
Disclaimers - I don't own SVU; I own this storyline; I own Kaitlyn.  
**

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After continuously knocking on the apartment door, Olivia was finally let in by a rather distressed looking Casey.

Taking in her slightly damp figure from the sudden downpour of rain, Casey began walking into their bedroom. "I'll get you a towel," She threw over her shoulder. When she came back, Olivia was standing just by the now closed door. Casey handed the towel to Olivia and she quickly dried her long locks. Wordlessly, she peered over Casey's shoulder and saw Kaitlyn was not there. Following Olivia's gaze, Casey turned her head and answered the unasked question. "She's in the shower… trying to get organized." Casey sighed as she let Olivia into the apartment. "She hasn't been in there long enough for me to get worried, yet… But I still can't help it."

Olivia took Casey's hand in her own and held it as they walked to the couch. When they sat down, she allowed Casey to lean back into her arms. Olivia kissed the top of her head. "What happened when you called me?" She asked. She could feel the tension in Casey's body and she didn't like it at all. She began working the knots in her back.

"She was having cramps, bad ones. I didn't know where her meds were and then before I could even get a word out to you, they passed."

There was a brief moment of silence.

Casey broke out of the embrace she was in and turned to face Olivia.

"Liv?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Did something happen at the hospital?" Casey asked, her eyebrows narrowing in question.

"What do you mean?"

"Kaitlyn… She's very…" she paused looking for the right word, "wary of you, almost frightened."

"Well nothing happened between her and me," she began. "But some people connect differently to other people. She hasn't told her parents, so maybe she's looking for that fatherly figure and she's found it in Elliot?"

There was another silence.

"We'll get the guy who did this, Case," she vowed.

"I'm going to hold you to that, Detective."

The bathroom door toggled open and Kaitlyn stepped out in the same clothes she was wearing the previous night, although washed thanks to Casey. She froze on the spot when she saw Olivia.

"Detective Benson, what are you doing here?" Kaitlyn mumbled on edge, staying where she was with her back pressed against the bathroom door.

Olivia looked at Casey and then over Casey's shoulder to Kaitlyn. "After the phone call I got this morning, I just wanted to see if you were okay."

Kaitlyn slowly pushed her way off the door. "I'm fine," she answered tightly. She walked ever so slowly and quietly to the recliner and sat down carefully. "Thanks." It was said so quietly that Olivia nearly missed it – nearly… but she could have sworn that somewhere in that squeak was genuine gratitude.

An awkward silence fell between the three of them, each staring at different parts of the room; Kaitlyn had her head down, staring at the floor, Casey's eyes were fixated on the window, watching the rain fall, and Olivia's eyes fell on to the drawings still scattered over the coffee table. She knew for a fact that Casey couldn't draw to save her life, and even if she could she doubted that Casey would be able to do a near to perfect self portrait. She picked it up gingerly to get a closer look. It was a rough sketch of Casey sitting on the couch with her left leg tucked under her bottom and her right leg propped up and bent at the knee. Her arms were wrapped around her shin and her head was slightly tilted. Kaitlyn had blocked out the side cushions and made the middle seat the centre of attention. Olivia was impressed by the fact that Kaitlyn had managed to capture every detail down to the pattern of the couch.

Rustling of paper snapped her out of her reverie and before Olivia could compliment the drawing, Kaitlyn slowly removed the drawing from Olivia's hand. "Sorry about the mess," she began quickly. "I'll get it out of the way." She shuffled into the spare bedroom leaving Olivia to look puzzled. She looked at Casey.

Casey drew in a shaky breath. "She was up _all_ night – drawing," she said quietly.

"She's talented," Olivia stated.

Casey nodded. "Yeah, she is. She gets it from her father." Casey chuckled quietly. "I was always jealous of his talent when I was growing up. It's why I joined baseball; I wanted to be better than him at something. I didn't know I'd fall in love with the sport." Casey nodded toward the spare room. "She loves it too. Before I moved to New York, we used to go out every weekend to the batting cages – she was only young though. We've always been close…" She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't want this to change that, but it is."

"Just because she's not talking Casey doesn't mean your relationship is deteriorating. How many victims have shut down before?"

Casey tensed at the use of the word 'victim'. While she had heard that word an umpteenth amount of times during her work, it was unsettling this time around since the word 'victim' matched up with her niece.

Kaitlyn chose this moment to walk back out of the spare bedroom and sat back down on the recliner. She looked at the time – eight o'clock.

Not knowing what to do with herself, Casey decided on taking a shower. "I'm going to have a shower," she announced.

"Well we may as well go down to the station, I mean detective Benson is here already why bother to make her wait?" Kaitlyn asked without a moment's hesitation or thought. She hadn't wanted to go down to the station and would have done anything to get out of it but, by the same token, she didn't want to be left in the same room as Olivia.

Casey and Olivia exchanged a subtle glance before Casey finally nodded. "Okay, sure. Just let me change." Casey waited for a response before walking into her bedroom and leaving her door open slightly.

Kaitlyn found it hard to remain calm and she hated the fact that her exterior showed exactly what a nervous wreck she was. She had stopped biting her nails four years ago, and in the space of two minutes three of her fingernails had been bitten down to the cuticle.

Olivia stole a quick glance at Kaitlyn and watched subtly as her right leg jiggled nervously. A faint humming filled her ears and without a second guess, she knew that it was coming from Kaitlyn. Olivia couldn't help but to be curious; very rarely had she seen a rape victim act the way that Kaitlyn had been. They were usually wary of Elliot – not Olivia. She remembered telling Casey that it may have had something to do with looking for a fatherly figure in Elliot, but something was off in that and she couldn't place her finger on it. Truth be told it was driving her nuts; she was not used to being on the receiving end of a cold shoulder from a victim.

When she heard Kaitlyn stop humming and saw her start to shift, Olivia quickly looked away and picked up a magazine on the end table.

Kaitlyn watched Olivia closely, almost studying her. She was so carefully sculpted; definite cheek bones, slender body, curves in all the right places - it would be a bitch to try and sketch her perfectly.

When Casey emerged out of the bedroom nearly ten minutes later, Kaitlyn visibly relaxed. Her leg stopped jiggling and she took her fingers out of her mouth, letting out a breath that she wasn't even aware she was holding.

She looked over at Casey who was picking at her cuticles and rolling her foot on the floor. Actions that was unbecoming of Casey Novak. "I suppose we should get going?" Casey suggested quietly. She moved to close the curtain in the apartment when a noise caught her attention. She walked back in to the lounge room with her eyebrows narrowed. "Does anyone else hear that buzzing?"

Olivia craned her neck straining to hear the noise that Casey was speaking about.

Kaitlyn slowly got up and walked into the spare bedroom. When she walked out she was holding a cell phone.

"So that's what that noise was last night. I thought you said you didn't have time to grab anything," Casey said.

Kaitlyn turned her phone off and put it on the counter. She looked up at Casey. "I didn't. My phone and wallet were already in the car." Before Casey or Olivia could get a word in, Kaitlyn started toward the front door. "Are we going?"

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Olivia was the first to walk into the precinct, followed by Kaitlyn and Casey. She led the girls into an interview room, tapping Elliot on the shoulder on the way. Casey found it hard not to snap at any person giving her sympathetic eyes; that was not what she needed. She was about to walk into the interview room when Don Cragen's voice stopped her in her tracks. "Casey," he called from his office doorway. He beckoned her over when she turned around and walked back into the office.

Casey grabbed Elliot's arm as he walked in and looked at him with a stern gaze. "Do not start without me." After receiving a nod from him, she turned on her heel and strode into the captain's office.

"Close the door," he said from his place at the desk. Casey complied and slowly walked over to his desk and sat down. He cleared his throat, unsure of how to start or where to begin. "I'm sorry that this happened, Casey."

"Not as sorry as the guy who did it will be," she countered in a low voice.

Don nodded. "I'm sure he will be," he began. "But you won't be the one making him pay."

"What?" Casey spat.

"You're not working this case," he said plainly.

"You're throwing me off the case?" Casey asked incredulously, standing up from her seat. "Are you kidding me?"

"This isn't just some victim, Casey. This is your niece. No matter who Benson and Stabler drag in, you will make it your mission to prosecute them, and the case will get thrown out because of it. You are too close to this and you know it."

"Captain –"

"I've already called in someone to prosecute this case."

Casey tried again. "Captain –"

"Casey listen to me, we are not going about this half assed. We've got the best working on this – we'll find him."

Casey ran her hands through her hair for about the fifth time in less than twenty-four hours. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Who's prosecuting?" She asked, defeated.

A knock on the door sounded before Cragen could respond. He looked at Casey with an apologetic glance and allowed entrance to whoever was behind the door.

When the door opened, none other than Alexandra Cabot stood in the doorway.

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** Originally the last part before the break was the start of chapter seven, but the end just seemed fitting and I like a bit of mystery :)  
Reviews are much needed love...  
**


	8. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the delay, but I had a spot of writer's block and family matters to deal with.  
Anyways I've got this chapter done, I'm working, I'm working on the next chapter right at this very moment.  
Just so you know, this chapter is a little bit... Intense? I don't think that's the right word, but just be warned that it's morbid. And I'm not writing this to get something out, nothing like this has ever happened to me, but stuff like this _does_ happen.**

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Casey couldn't help but feel a little bit intimidated by the blonde beauty. She had worked SVU three years before Casey showed up. Casey thought of herself as a great prosecutor, but now she questioned herself when she couldn't even try her own niece's case. And of all prosecutors, Cragen had to call in Alex?

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked from Alex to Don and back to Alex. "I'm sitting in on that interview and no final decisions are made without going by me first," Casey stated firmly. She then got up and walked out of the captain's office leaving Alex staring at him in bewilderment.

She sighed. "Well I wasn't expecting to be welcomed with opened arms, but that was far better than I'd imagined," she said with a small smile and a shrug of the shoulders.

"She's going through a lot, Alex," Don said in Casey's defense.

"I know." Alex walked further into the office, closing the door behind her. "But I'm already worried about her position on this case. She can't be around her niece while we're questioning her, she will shut down – Casey knows this," Alex deadpanned.

"Yeah, she knows it. But this isn't just a victim to Casey. This is her niece."

Alex nodded. She turned and opened the door, walking out of the captain's office and headed for the interview room with Don following behind. They both stopped at the mirror. Don fiddled with a button on the side and they were now able to hear the interview.

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"So can you describe the guy for us, Kaitlyn?" Elliot asked gently. He had a pen held over the yellow notepad that was always used for statements or note taking, waiting. He could feel the table moving slightly from Kaitlyn's arm being on the table and her leg jigging anxiously.

Kaitlyn looked at Casey who was sitting beside her. She then looked across the table at Elliot. She shook her head. "I don't remember what he looked like," she mumbled, staring at the floor.

Elliot nodded his head. "Okay, was he taller than you? Shorter?" He asked.

"I…" she began, shrugging her shoulders. "Same height as me I guess…"

Elliot nodded his head and jotted it down. "What was his build? Was he big or thin?"

"Neither… average. Look I don't remember him."

"Are you sure about that?" Olivia asked. When Kaitlyn looked at her, her eyes wide, Olivia continued. "The doctor said that there's been ongoing abuse." Olivia saw Casey glaring at her, but she didn't back down. "The bruises that the doctor saw prove it."

Casey turned in her seat to stare at her niece "Is that true?" She asked Kaitlyn, quietly.

"_No_!" She answered through her teeth.

"Kaitlyn," Elliot started, taking over from Olivia. "The bruises on your inner thighs are healing at different stages. Some are nearly gone, while others are fresh," he stated.

"I'm a retarded healer," she bit back.

"Why are you protecting him?" Elliot asked.

"I'm not protecting him; I just can't remember anything about him!" She yelled, tears of frustration welling in her eyes. "Why are you hassling me about this?"

"So we can catch him and put him away hopefully before he hurts you or another girl."

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes and looked away from Casey, Olivia and Elliot. She found the wall of the room very interesting and stared at it intensely.

"You said that your wallet and phone were in the car… did you have this planned?" Olivia asked gently, trying a different approach. She put her arms on the table and clasped her hands together. She drew in a deep breath, already knowing what the response to her next question would be. "Has the abuse been happening from home?"

"Olivia!" Casey's eyes were wild with anger; an emerald green that Olivia rarely ever saw.

She ignored Casey however, and continued to stare at Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn's eyebrows knitted together. "No."

"You left your stuff in the car, Kaitlyn," Olivia countered. "It couldn't have been a split second decision to get away from your rapist…"

"Olivia, that's enough!" Casey snapped.

Her leg stopped jiggling and for the first time since meeting Olivia, she stared into her eyes. "If I had it planned don't you think I would have packed clothing, detective?"

"Weren't you telling Casey just this morning that you didn't have time to get your stuff?" Olivia countered.

Kaitlyn glared at Casey, but said nothing.

"Kaitlyn you need to start telling us something. He could be out there hurting more girls, do you want that?" Olivia asked, now leaning forward in her seat.

"He won't," Kaitlyn mumbled.

Elliot raised his eyebrow. Hearing that statement once was enough to make him say she was in denial. Hearing that statement twice was enough to make him question this. "Kaitlyn, do you know your rapist?" Elliot asked, squinting his eyes in question.

"Don't make me tell you," she whispered, shrinking in her seat.

"You have to."

"Don't make me tell you," she repeated a little louder.

"He won't be able to hurt you once you tell us who he is. We will pick him up and he'll be put away, but you need to tell us who he is," Elliot said firmly.

"No!" Kaitlyn screamed, slamming her left hand on the metal table, making Casey and Olivia jump.

"All right _detectives_," Casey began putting emphasis on their titles, "I'm taking her home. She's not up to it, and I'm not forcing it out of her until she's ready." Casey stood up and waited for Kaitlyn to follow suit.

Olivia stood up also and walked over to Casey. "A word, Councilor?" When Casey didn't respond to the request, Olivia gripped her wrist, not too tight, and stared her directly in the eyes. "_Now_," she added through her teeth. Without waiting for Casey to respond, she guided her out of the interview room and shut the door. They walked into the interview room next door, away from watchful eyes, not to keep their relationship a secret; everyone at work knew that Casey and Olivia were a couple, but to keep their heated discussion private.

Before Olivia had the chance to say anything, Casey was already down her throat. "What in the hell was that, Olivia?!"

"Me doing my job. Do you want us to catch her rapist? Because taking her home will leave him out on the street another night to hurt another girl. Is that what you want?" Olivia shot back.

Casey's mouth hung open in shock. The hurt in her eyes told Olivia that she had overstepped the boundaries and she took it down a notch. She took Casey's hands in her own.

"You have to let us do our jobs, Casey. We know what we're doing. We know when enough is enough and we know when to keep pushing."

Casey nodded. "I know that. I don't doubt it –"

"Then trust in that."

Casey opened her mouth to respond, but found a lump in her throat instead. She swallowed it down and just nodded her head mutely. Olivia also nodded her head, and they both walked out of the interview room, stopping at the mirror with the captain and Alex. Olivia held Casey's hand tightly as they watched through the mirror.

--------

Kaitlyn had now moved from the table to the window, watching the bustling traffic and the quick moving people roam the streets of New York. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and her eyebrows narrowed in anger, her lips pursed together tightly.

Deciding to give her a break from being under the pressure of giving up her rapist's name, Elliot tried casual conversation.

"I notice that you don't call Casey by her title. It's never _Aunt_ Casey… Just Casey," he stated, still seated at the table, but turned around so he could face her – or rather her back.

Kaitlyn shrugged. "It was cute up until I was thirteen. She got sick of hearing _Aunt_ before the use of her name every sentence and I got sick of using it." She cleared her throat and continued. "Plus the fact she always said it made her feel old considering there's only fifteen years between us," she said with a small smirk as she turned around to face a smiling Elliot. "And we're close, so it works," she added nonchalantly as she slowly made her way back to the table, seating herself across from Elliot. She sighed as an awkward silence took over and looked at Elliot. "You're not going to give up are you? You're just going to sit there until I cave in or you crack it at me and demand answers."

"You're leading me in this dance, not the other way around. If you're not ready to tell us then you're not ready, but it would really help us and possibly save other girls if you told us," he replied gently.

"Why can't you just trust me when I say that no one else is going to get hurt?" She asked with desperation in her voice.

"I _do_ trust you. But I also trust my gut and that's telling me that you know who he is. So I can't believe you when you say that you don't know him."

"You seem to be forgetting that I never wanted to come here in the first place. I was never going to report it – not to the police or to Casey. But I crashed my car and everything just got out of hand from there on in."

"So had everything gone to plan and you didn't have the car accident, you rock up to your aunt's house at nine o'clock at night, what were you going to tell Casey when she questioned you?" He asked leaning forward in his seat.

"I play baseball. _Played_ baseball," she corrected herself. "I'm feisty. Easily explained away. I was planning on telling her that I had gotten into a fight with one of the girls on the other team…"

"Right, just like what you told me at the hospital," Elliot said.

Kaitlyn shrugged. "She trusts me. There would have been no questions and she would have believed it because _it works_."

"The two of you are close; you think she wouldn't be able to pick up if you were lying to her or not?" He countered.

Kaitlyn shrugged again. "Probably. I didn't really think that far ahead." She shook her head, rolling her eyes. "It doesn't matter now anyways. Because it's all be shot to shit."

"Then go the extra mile. You're here. We know you've been abused, just tell us who did it."

Kaitlyn looked at Elliot incredulously. "You really think it's that easy? Name your rapist, get a cookie?" She snapped.

"I never said it was easy, but it's liberating."

"This won't be." It was out before she even realized it and she inwardly cringed. She groaned and put her head in her hand.

Elliot stood up and walked over to Kaitlyn. He sat down next to her, maneuvering the chairs so they were facing each other. "I promise you that when this is all over, you will be okay. It will all be okay. But you have to trust us to let us do our job and cooperate with us." Elliot was practically pleading and Kaitlyn felt the tiniest hint of guilt in the pit of her stomach. She laughed in her mind at the irony. She was abused but she was the one feeling guilty about not wanting to put her abuser away. Go figure, she thought.

She closed her eyes tight. "Okay," she whispered.

"What?" Elliot asked, cocking his head to the side.

Keeping her eyes closed, she repeated herself a little louder. "Okay."

Elliot looked at the mirror and nodded. He turned back to Kaitlyn, who now had her eyes open. "Okay. We will go as slow as you need, just take your time okay?" When he saw Kaitlyn nod her head, he dragged the yellow notepad and the pen across the table. "How long has the abuse been happening?"

Kaitlyn drew in a deep breath and exhaled. She opened her mouth to respond but couldn't find her voice. She blinked back tears and forced herself to talk. "The physical abuse has been going on for about two years," she answered monotonously.

Elliot wrote this down and looked up from the notepad. "And the sexual abuse?"

"Six months…" She was focusing on her left index finger picking at the cuticle of her left thumb and refused eye contact.

"Who is he, Kaitlyn?" When Kaitlyn didn't respond, Elliot used his index finger to guide her face so she was staring at him. "Who is he?" Elliot asked again.

"I can't…" She whispered, shaking her head as a few tears escaped from her eyes.

"Yes you can" he assured her. "Give me his name and we'll go pick him up, you won't have to worry about being hurt ever again."

"This isn't just about me," she ground out through her teeth. She wiped away her tears with a shaky hand.

"Kaitlyn –"

"I can't, she'll kill me!"

For a split second Elliot thought he might have misheard her, but when he saw the shock on her face he realized that it was not a mistake. "She?" Elliot looked over to the mirror and back to Kaitlyn. "Who is she?" Seeing that she wasn't going to respond he asked her again, firmly. "Who is she, Kaitlyn?"

More tears escaped from Kaitlyn eyes and she tried her best to block out Elliot's voice. "Don't make me tell you…"

"Who. Is. She?"

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"That's enough, I'm getting her out of there," Casey told Olivia, on the verge of tears. She made a move to interrupt the interview, but came into contact with Olivia's body.

"Casey if you go in there and take her home, the next time you bring her back she won't tell us anything. Please, _please_, just let this go on a little longer," Olivia pleaded. "I know that you want to find out who did this just as much as we do, but you have to let us push her just a little bit."

"Just a little bit? Liv she is in there _whimpering_!" Casey let out, causing Alex and Don to look their way.

"Kaitlyn knows that she could get up and walk out at any given time; the fact that she hasn't done that suggests that she _wants_ to tell us, she's just scared," Alex said, walking over to the two women.

"Wouldn't you be if that was you?" Casey snapped. She shrugged out of Olivia's grip and walked over to Don. She folded her arms over her chest and stared through the mirror, watching as her niece struggled to name her rapist.

--------

"Anything she threatened to do to you will not happen, but you've got to tell me who did this to you first, Kaitlyn." Elliot was beginning to get sick and tired of this song and dance. He knew that Kaitlyn wanted to tell him who did this to her, but her rapist had scared her so much that she was petrified to tell.

Kaitlyn wasn't even talking now; all she was doing at this point was shaking her head over and over; her eyes filled with fear.

"Tell me who did it, Kaitlyn." Elliot's voice rose a little bit and it was stern. "Who did it?" His voice got louder, but she remained silent. "Who?" Kaitlyn pursed her lips together and squeezed her eyes shut; she began rocking back and forth in her seat.

"It was…" she hiccupped. "It…"

"Who?"

"It was my mother!!" She shrieked.

--------

"I want the maximum. _No _deals, _no_ good behavior; _maximum jail time_." On the outside of the interview room, Casey was ready to scream blue murder. She held Olivia's hand tightly as she held back her tears. She stared Alex straight in the eyes and was slightly surprised that Alex didn't try to fight her.

Instead, Alex simply nodded her head and turned to the captain. "We're going to need to pick her up."

"I'll get Munch and Fin to take a road trip."

* * *

**Hopefully this now answers some questions about why Kaitlyn's acting the way she is acting. I'm aware that I may get flamed for this chapter, but whatever happens, happens. There will probably be some questions about Kaitlyn's mother - is she Casey's sister or sister-in-law. Is it a step mother or mother? These will be answered through the fic, so if you ask, you won't get an answer. Everyone always gets a reply for their reviews though, so I look forward to typing them up :)  
Thanks guys.**

**- Kylie  
**


	9. Chapter 8

**Oh my dear readers and reviewers, I'm sorry for this chapter taking so long. It was a pain in the ass to write, and by the middle of it I had had enough of this chapter, but wanted to keep going. So as penance, I will be working to get Chapter 9 up by Tuesday/Wednesday-ish :)**  
**Again, a big thanks to ImNotThatGirl for helping me and my Muse, and an even bigger thankd to those who are reviewing :)**

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"It was always in a drunken fit of rage," Kaitlyn whispered. After two cups of water, she had managed to calm down and started talking quite freely, which Elliot was thankful for. "Usually when daddy had gone away on work," she paused to look up at Elliot. "He's a professor at the university; he teaches archaeology and takes some students to different parts of the world on an archaeological dig." 

"So he's away a lot?" Elliot asked.

Kaitlyn shook her head no. "He's home six to nine months of the year but he's gone before I wake up and home long after I've gone to bed." She shrugged her shoulders. "He started the tours about two years ago and my mother didn't really cope well with that."

"Why's that?"

"My mother and father were on the brink of divorce; she thought that by dad going away every now and then it meant they were drifting further and further apart… Or that he was having some sordid love affair. So she started drinking to numb the pain or ease it or whatever." She slammed her hand on the table before getting up and walking back over to the window. It had started raining again and she traced the droplets of water on the window. "I came home late from school one afternoon; the teacher held the class back for being disruptive. My mother was drunk and she lost it – completely. She started yelling at me and I rolled my eyes at her drunken rage and stalked off into my room. She came after me… pulled me by my hair and backhanded me, hard." She placed her hand over her cheek. She turned to face Elliot. "She knocked me flat on my ass."

"You didn't tell your dad when he came home from work?"

"He wasn't home. He was away in India."

Elliot cocked his head to the side. "How do you remember what country he was in?"

"She only ever drank when he went away. The first time she hurt me was the first time he had left. You don't forget things like that. It was three months of hell every year for two years. After going nuts at me for little things, she found she didn't need a real reason. Missing dad and the fact that I remind her of him was enough for her to beat me." She sniffed and wiped the tears off her cheeks. "She knocked me unconscious… on more than one occasion. I'd wake up on the floor of wherever I was, pull my cell out of my pocket and realize that three hours had passed by and I had no recollection of them."

Elliot leaned forward in his seat, his elbows resting on his knees. "Did she ever use objects to hit you?"

Kaitlyn shook her head. "Usually her hands or her feet. She's thrown bottles at me before, but when you're intoxicated, you're aim tends to be off. Only thing that actually got me from the bottles were the shards of glass that flew everywhere."

Elliot drew in a breath. "How come your teachers at school didn't pick any of this up?"

"It was always during summer break. What a coincidence, right?" She replied with a roll of her eyes.

"It does seem a little off."

"He couldn't very well pull students out of class mid year, so it seemed wise to do it during summer break – whether he was away for three to six months depended on whether they had finished school or not."

"That makes sense," Elliot agreed.

Kaitlyn smiled softly. "Everything has to have a point… or needs to make sense other wise it can't be valid." She walked back to the chair and sat down resting her left elbow on her knee and looking down at the ground. "So I'm trying to figure out how this all makes sense; what the point is in doing what she did…" She looked up at Elliot. "Or why I stayed."

"Whether it had been going on for a day, a month or three years it was never your fault and you could not have stopped it," Elliot assured.

"I had the power to walk out at any time and I didn't!" She snapped.

"Because each time she hit you, you thought it would be the last time she did."

"I should have walked the second time she hurt me… Or the first time she ever…" She gulped and shook her head. "This is… so screwed." She looked up at Elliot with the same tired expression as the night before. "Do I really need to get into detail about what happened? I told you who did it…"

"We need your statement."

Kaitlyn hung her head. "I only remember the last time it happened. I blocked everything else out... mainly because it was just abuse; it was never actually… r…" Kaitlyn closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Itwasneveractuallyrape…" she let out in one word. "Not until…"

Elliot wrote this down and nodded his head. "Okay, how long has it been since this happened last?" He asked quietly.

"Wednesday morning… early," she said meekly. "What she did to me," she began through her teeth. "I ballsed up and decided to leave."

"Kaitlyn, a drive from Jersey takes a couple hours – you showed up in New York at eight thirty Wednesday night," he deadpanned. Kaitlyn failed to meet his eyes. "Maybe just start from the beginning? Take me back to Wednesday morning."

Kaitlyn looked back at the mirror warily and back at Elliot. "I was asleep," she began quietly. "I um… I was roused out of sleep by movement in my bed. I opened my eyes to look at the clock on my wall, which was blurry, but when they adjusted I saw that the time was ten past six. My… She…" Kaitlyn squeezed her eyes closed and began to sob. She pressed her lips together to keep herself from whimpering. "I felt her hand… snaking its way between… between… my legs," she continued through her teeth as tears fell down her cheeks. "I tried to kick her off and shouted in protest but I just got a backhand that landed south of my cheek; she split my lip, I could taste blood." She wiped the tears from her cheek, but it was useless as more kept spilling. "I was clawing at her face in an attempt to hurt her… but that only works if you have nails. She… was about to… she went to… kiss me and so I bit her lip – hard." Kaitlyn's face showed nothing but disgust. She shook her head. "She tasted like vodka," Kaitlyn added. "She punched me in the eye, but in that split second she lost her control over me and I kicked her off of me. She landed on the floor with a thud and she looked at me with this… this almost murderous look in her eyes. She wiped the blood from her lip and got up. She was eyeing something in the corner of my room… I don't know why I didn't just run when I had the chance!" She wailed.

Elliot stopped writing and leaned forward, placing a hand on Kaitlyn's forearm; she didn't move. She lifted her head up slowly and looked up at Elliot, his face calm and relaxed. She took a moment to just study him and when she looked into his eyes she finally settled down and relaxed back into her chair.

Kaitlyn drew in a deep, shaky breath and let it out slowly. She picked up from where she left off in a low monotone voice. "She grabbed my baseball bat from the corner and held it above her head and just as she brought it down, I rolled away but she got my hand." Subconsciously, Kaitlyn cradled her plastered arm. She looked away from Elliot and back down at her feet, which were dancing under the table. "I screamed out. She came over to me and grabbed my shirt, told me to get on the bed," she whispered. "She was using the bat to threaten me. She used the bat to hold me down while she started yelling at me for hurting her. Hurting _her_," she snarled with a roll of her eyes. "She hit me a few more times… fondled me… _kissed_ me… I struggled. She held the bat down." Her eyes welled up with tears and she began to shake. "She started to pull my pants down with one hand and I did anything and everything I could to stop her. I grabbed on to the bat with my left hand and fought with her for it. I got it and I went to hit her over the head with it, but she ducked. She squeezed my broken hand, I screamed and let go of the bat." She stopped and looked at Elliot, shaking her head. She pursed her lips together and squeezed her eyes closed. She took a deep breath through her nose and opened her eyes; they were glossed over with unshed tears. "She picked it up and she... _used_ it on me!" She yelled hoarsely through her teeth.

Elliot gripped the pen tighter, his knuckles going white. When he finished taking the last sentence, he looked up at Kaitlyn and watched as her reaction to the retelling of her abuse was not like he had seen from other victims.

She stared straight ahead, her arms on the table. Elliot couldn't tell if her face was blank from being drained or blank from being numb or confused. He didn't question this. The table began to wobble and he knew that it was coming from her leg jiggling. He realized that this, and picking at her cuticles, were nervous habits of hers.

When she finally looked up at Elliot, he saw that while her reaction wasn't like other victims, the look in her eyes was much the same; hollow, empty.

--------

Casey wiped furiously at the tears spilling down her cheeks. Her mind was racing, but she couldn't make anything out of her thoughts. She sniffled loudly and felt her head go light. She reached for the nearest person, which just so happened to be Olivia, to keep herself steady. She stumbled backward a bit and held on to Olivia's arm tighter. She heard voices, but nothing distinct, she blocked them out. She could feel herself being guided away from the mirror and being made to sit down. Casey sunk into the chair and brought her right leg up, bending it at the knee, leaning her forehead against her thigh. She swallowed the sob that was threatening to come out and instead started to cough violently.

Olivia was up in an instant, out the door and to the water cooler. She came back in, squatting down beside Casey to help her take a sip of water. She laid a hand on Casey's back and rubbed circles in an attempt to ease her breathing as she drank from the cup, lest she have an asthma attack.

Casey put the cup on the table in front of her and her eyebrows narrowed. She looked around and noticed, for the first time since being moved away from her niece's interview that she was in the interview room next door with the door closed. The look on her face softened and she leaned her head on Olivia's shoulder, wrapping her arms around Olivia's neck. Olivia leaned on her knees and put her arms around Casey's waist, holding her tight.

After a few sweet seconds of being in her lover's strong, protective embrace she slowly and regretfully moved out of them, running a hand through her hair. As much as she loved being in Olivia's arms, she didn't like it like this. She didn't like the fact that she was being protected in this way for this reason. She felt guilty that she was getting some form of contact from a loved one; while her niece was giving her statement about being _attacked_ by someone who was _supposed_ to love her and refusing any kind of comfort or support.

Casey squeezed her eyes closed and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes and looked at Olivia. "I need to be there." Without saying another word, or waiting to get a response from Olivia, she got up and walked out of the room, stopping just beside Alex and crossing her arms over chest.

It didn't take long for Olivia to come up behind them and resume her position between Casey and Alex.

"What's been happening?" Olivia asked, voicing the question that Casey had wanted to ask but couldn't find her voice to do so.

"Nothing," Alex answered, turning to face Olivia. "She hasn't said anything more and Elliot hasn't pushed her. We've got her statement, all I need to know now is about the first time she was sexually abused and then I can start preparing her for trial."

"That doesn't have to be today," Casey spoke, staring blankly at Alex. "She's already under stress as it is –"

"I understand, Casey," Alex began. "But if we leave it for too long, we're going to have to cram it in and, more than likely, she'll forget everything I've told her to do on the stand and she'll crack." Alex looked at Casey's withdrawn expression and relented. "I have nine thirty clear in my schedule tomorrow morning. We can go through it until she's had enough and we'll start again the next day until trial."

Casey nodded. "Yeah… Okay, whatever."

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**The part about Casey being asthmatic I made up... I don't know she just seems like the type...  
Reviews make me happy, and I've been feeling cruddy lately, so please review.**


	10. Chapter 9

**For all the Aussies reading my fic... It's still Wednesday!! It's still Wednesday!! It is 6.29pm, so it's STILL Wednesday lol. So as promised, here is chapter nine of Close To Home. Enjoy :)**

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Elliot was now on the outside of the interview room with the others, leaning against the glass with his arms over his chest. They were all in silence as they tried to take in the entire scene.

"I want to be the one that her mother answers to," Elliot spoke first, looking at his captain.

Don looked between Elliot and Alex before speaking. "If I see you do anything that could be potentially damaging for this case, I will pull you out of there." There was no room for question, so Elliot nodded his head wordlessly.

There was another round of silence before Alex broke it. "I still need you to get her to recount the first time it happened and why it took over twelve hours for her to get from Jersey to Manhattan."

Elliot nodded his head again. "Yeah I know. I'm just giving her a break to collect herself."

"Do you want me to take over for you?" Olivia asked, turning to Elliot.

Elliot shook his head. "Probably better if I went back in there."

Olivia nodded. "Anyone else getting a lot of the blanks filled in?"

"Especially the reason why she won't take to you," Elliot stated. A look of realization spread across his face. "And it explains why she was handling the morning after pill so well; she didn't take it. There would have been no need to."

Olivia glared at Elliot and subtly nodded in the direction of Casey, silently warning him to watch what he said and how he said it while in Casey's presence. "It seems as though her cramps are subsiding," Olivia observed, partially changing the subject. "Although that doesn't necessarily mean that they're gone."

"She's hiding it," Casey finally spoke. Everyone turned to look at the redhead. "She's good at doing that. If she thinks she's being fussed over too much, she'll hide her pain."

"Well how do you know if she's doing that or not?" Elliot asked.

Casey shrugged with a sad smirk. "You don't. You just realize it afterward."

An awkward silence filled the space this time with everyone looking anywhere but at each other. Elliot looked into the interview room and saw Kaitlyn starting to get restless. He cleared his throat. "I'm gonna get back in there." He began walking back into the interview room before stopping and turning around to look at his captain. "Let me know when the mother gets here. Liv and I will go good cop bad cop on her and charge her." Without waiting for a response he continued into the interview room.

Kaitlyn drew in a shaky breath upon the return of Detective Stabler and shifted in her chair. She was beginning to get tired and the chair was none too comfortable to be sitting in for over three hours. She looked up at him through tired eyes. "What more do you need?"

"I just need for you to tell me what you can remember about the first time you were sexually abused…" He trailed when he saw Kaitlyn tense up. "If you've had enough, we can pick it up again later –"

"No. Let's just get this part over with."

"Are you sure?" Elliot questioned.

"_Don't_ ask me that. Because if you ask me that, I'm going to say no and go back to Casey's apartment and then I'll have to come back here, and I don't want to come back here. So just… ask me what you still need to know."

Elliot nodded his head. "Okay." He picked up the pen and turned the page over, getting ready to write. "I know you said that you blocked everything out up until Wednesday, but I need you to try and remember what happened the first time it happened to you."

Kaitlyn ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "I don't… I…" Growing frustrated with her inability to get whole sentences out she grunted at herself and worded the sentence in her head first. "She'd fallen asleep on the couch. I went in to wake her up. She was drunk so I had to help her to bed. I don't think I bothered changing her clothes. I pulled the blankets up and she kissed me. I pushed her back on the bed and walked out of her room and never brought it up again."

"Just like that?" Elliot asked as he moved the pen across the page.

Kaitlyn shrugged. "I told you I didn't remember much."

"Not even your reaction?" Elliot asked with a raised brow.

"Well I sure as hell wasn't rejoicing," Kaitlyn retorted, her eyes narrowing with frustration.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"I know. I'm sorry," she responded monotonously. "I was shocked, but I knew she was drunk so I just didn't say anything. I _never_ brought it up again. When it happened again..." Kaitlyn sighed. "Look, I don't know why I didn't tell anyone. I just didn't."

Sensing that she was getting agitated by explaining herself to him, he changed the subject. He finished scribbling the last couple of sentences, before drawing a line underneath all of his points, and putting a new point underneath it. He put the pen down on the paper and cleared his throat, gaining her attention again.

"Kaitlyn, why did it take you so long to get here? Even on a bad day, you can still get to New York in four hours…" he trailed.

"I had a baseball bat used on me, detective," Kaitlyn spat, anger bubbling at her core. "I could hardly walk!" She caught herself and adjusted her tone. "After it happened, all I could do was lay in bed. Even then the most I could do was cradle my hand; I had to stop myself from crying because every time I moved I hurt my ribs… among other areas of my body." She looked down at her hands and saw blood on her thumb. She had been picking at her cuticle so much in the last three hours that she had made herself bleed. She used her index finger to wipe away the blood and placed her hand on the table to remind herself not to pick. As a way to get her nervousness out she went back to making her feet dance under the table. "She has a job as a secretary for Roman and Leventhal." Seeing Elliot's confused stare, she added, "it's a law firm, uptown. Her shifts start at five in the afternoon and she's gone until midnight. I stayed in my room all day until I heard her leave at four." She took a sharp intake of breath and tried not to screw her face up as she waited for the minor cramps to pass. She licked her lips and didn't bother to try and explain her sudden lapse.

Elliot waited for her attention again before he spoke. "Why did you wait all day? Why didn't you just leave as soon as your body would let you?"

"Imagine if the person who _raped_ you was living in the same house as you. You've just been attacked and you get up, walk out of the house and get into your car. Do you reckon you'd still be alive to tell the tale?" She shot at him. She looked at Elliot with hurt strewn across her face. "Why do I get the feeling that you don't believe me?"

"Don't be mistaken, Kaitlyn. I believe you, but I have to ask every possible question I can to make sure there are no holes in your story. If I don't get every little thing down, can you imagine what the defense attorney could do to you on the stand?"

"You're doing your job," she mumbled.

Elliot nodded. "So tell me what happened after your mother left for work."

"I have no idea how I managed to get up, but I did. I went straight to my car since my phone and my wallet were already there because I forgot to get them out the night before. I spent the night driving around with a few of my friends. It was late by the time I got back, maybe three thirty? I was tired, I just wanted to head back in and sleep." She stared at the mirror. "I didn't have it planned, and I didn't grab them on spur of the moment even though my actions may have been so." She looked back to Elliot. "By the time I got down the stairs and into my car it was about fifteen minutes past four. I drove straight to Chloe's house. When in doubt, seek the advice of your best friend right?" She shrugged with a sad smile. "I didn't tell her what happened. I just told her that I was coming to New York and to cover for me and tell people I was staying with her if anyone asked."

"She wasn't curious about why?" Elliot asked, cocking his head to the side.

"We're best friends. If I don't tell her now, I'll tell her eventually and vice versa. I wouldn't do anything to get her trouble, and she knows that." She looked Elliot directly in the eyes as she spoke, knowing that if Casey was seeing this, she'd know she was telling the truth. Kaitlyn had issues with looking people in the eyes if she was lying and she'd have trouble speaking. Seeing that Elliot wasn't going to ask any more questions, she continued speaking. "By the time I got back on the road it was five o'clock. I took my time getting here; pulling over every now and then for the cramps to pass and to keep myself from passing out."

"You're lucky your accident was only minor," Elliot said as he continued writing. "You could have been seriously injured."

"I know."

"You could have injured others."

"I know," she answered through her teeth. She couldn't tell if Elliot was being a father figure or a cop, but either way she was getting annoyed by it.

The silence made Elliot look up from the notepad and his notes and saw Kaitlyn using her index finger to draw patterns on the table, hearing her feet dance under it. He stared at her for a while before Kaitlyn caught him out. She sheepishly tucked her hand under the table.

"I'm anxious… sorry."

"There's no need to be sorry, Kaitlyn," Elliot assured.

Kaitlyn smirked. "Careful, detective. Say it one more time and it will sound like you're trying to convince _yourself_ that I've nothing to be sorry for."

Elliot chuckled. "I'm getting repetitive," he stated.

Kaitlyn shrugged. "I should get used to it I guess." She looked up at Elliot. "Is that all you need?" She asked.

"Yeah," Elliot answered.

Kaitlyn nodded her head and stood up from the table and walked over to the closed door. Her hand stopped short of the door knob as she froze on the spot.

Elliot raised a brow. "You okay?"

Kaitlyn shook her head, dropping her hand by her side. "I can't face her," she said, her back still facing Elliot and her head down.

Elliot got up and walked over to her, leaning against the wall. He rubbed his chin as he thought of what to say. "I know. But you won't have to face her until trial and you'll feel better for it," he assured.

Kaitlyn shook her head again. "I'm not talking about _her_. I'm talking about Casey."

Elliot's brows raised in question. "Why not?"

"She knows _everything_ now. It's just… too weird."

"She's not gonna pass judgment on you."

"There's always going to be judgment… no matter who it's from. I just don't want it to come from her."

"She knows that none of this was your fault –"

"If it wasn't my fault then why did she choose me?" Kaitlyn whirled around; anger was set in her eyes as she questioned Elliot. "Of all the people she came in to contact with she picked _me_. I had to have done something that told her it was okay to do this to me," she said meekly.

"No," Elliot said firmly. "Rape and violence is not about looks… or vibes or subconscious actions. It's about power. She knows she has power over you because she is your mother."

"I was just there," she mumbled.

Elliot hesitated before nodding his head slowly. "It. Is not. Your. Fault."

Kaitlyn lifted her tongue to the roof of her mouth and narrowed her eyebrows in a desperate attempt to stop herself from crying. She took in a few shallow breaths and closed her eyes. Once she felt the first sting of tears, she couldn't hold it in any longer. Her shoulders shook and wails escaped her mouth as tears cascaded down her cheeks in a river of salt water.

--------

"The signs were there and I just thought that she and her mother weren't getting along," Casey said just above a whisper. Watching as Elliot pulled her niece into a hug and rubbed her back.

"It isn't your fault either," Olivia said firmly.

"Olivia, I deal with this every day. It is my job. How could I have not picked up on this?" Casey argued.

"Not getting along with your parents is normal in adolescent behavior, Casey. Don't do this to yourself."

"I should have been there for her," Casey continued, ignoring Olivia completely.

"You're here for her now, that's all the counts," Olivia replied softly. "You have to be strong for her, she needs you."

Casey nodded her head. "I know." She rubbed her face and ran her hands through her hair. "I know. You're right." She took a breath through her nose and let it out through her mouth slowly. "I'm okay."

--------

"I'm okay," Kaitlyn said softly as she removed herself from Elliot's grasp. She wiped her cheeks and rubbed her eyes. She shook her head and gave Elliot a skeptical look. "I'm not okay, but I have to be, right?"

Elliot placed his hand at the back of her neck and squeezed gently. "It'll get better." Still facing a skeptical look, he smiled. "I'm not just saying that. It's not exactly wise of me to lie. It _will_ get better."

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**Props, once again, go out to ImNotThatGirl - hardcore! She must have read the same section over and over again  
... But she helped me make it what it is. So review, review, review:)  
**


	11. Chapter 10

**Le Sigh... I'm not entirely thrilled with how the end of the chapter turned out, but I had to crop it off at the end because it would have just gotten too long. This chapter is already longer than usual... But I did feel the need to explore Casey and Olivia's relationship just a little but more, considering this IS a C/O story.  
I think that is all I wanted to say. If there's any confusion, ask about it. You all get a reply back if you review, so I'll be sure to answer them :)**

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Olivia pulled up to the curb just outside of Casey's building. Kaitlyn could not have unbuckled her seatbelt fast enough. It took her a little longer to get out of the car but once she did she headed toward the building, determined to get a head start on the stairs.The car ride had an uncomfortable silence about it that no one was willing to break; the three women slightly afraid of what would be said and by whom. Casey doubted her niece would feel comfortable talking in front of the brunette, so she kept silent and Kaitlyn could have cared less about talking at this point. Olivia tried making small talk but gave up when she figured that she could get more out of the steering wheel.

When Casey saw that Olivia wasn't unbuckling her belt, she looked over to her. "You're not coming up?" She asked, worried.

"I figured you'd want some time to talk to your niece," Olivia replied.

Casey shook her head. "No, I wouldn't know what to say. I _don't_ know what to say."

"You don't plan these kinds of conversations, Casey. You just talk."

"I don't have experience with this, Liv, I –"

"It has nothing to do with experience either," Olivia cut in. "You're talking to her as her aunt. Not as an ADA, you don't need to take tips from me." When she saw Casey open her mouth to talk again, Olivia continued, not giving Casey a chance to cut in. "Go in there and comfort her. Don't go in and interrogate her." Olivia reached out her hand and caressed Casey's cheek with a small smile. "I'm only a phone call away if you need me."

Casey closed her eyes and held the hand that was on her cheek. She leaned forward, touching her forehead to Olivia's. "I need you now," she whispered, her voice shaking with emotion.

Olivia rubbed her thumb over Casey's cheek, gently with a small smile. She held Casey's free hand with her own and said, "Sweetheart, you need to do this; not just for Kaitlyn but for yourself too."

Casey nodded her head, slowly.

"Okay?"

"Okay," she whispered.

Olivia gave Casey's hand a reassuring squeeze as she closed the distance between them and pressed a soft kiss on Casey's lips.

"I'll be at the precinct if you need me," she said after she pulled away.

Casey took a deep breath and slowly got out of the car. She turned around and tapped on the window, signaling for Olivia to wind it down. She poked her head in. "Please come home tonight."

Olivia nodded her head. "I will." Olivia had never heard so much desperation in Casey's voice before; it made her heart ache and made her want to bundle Casey up in her arms. But she knew that Casey had bigger issues to deal with at this time, and knew that Casey's top priority would be her niece, not herself.

Nodding her head, Casey turned away from the car and walked up to her apartment, leaving Olivia to take the drive back to the precinct alone with her thoughts.

--------

When Casey reached the top of the stairs she found Kaitlyn leaning against the door frame. Wordlessly, Casey unlocked the door to her apartment and walked inwith Kaitlyn close behind. Not knowing what to do with herself, Kaitlyn sat at the head of the table just behind the couch and watched as Casey dead bolted the door. She stayed there for a minute, trying to figure out how she should start the conversation with her niece. Figuring that if she stood there any longer it would look suspicious she turned and said the first thing she could think of.

"Do you want something to eat?"

It was a start. Until she knew what she wanted to say, the conversation that both women were dreading would be put on hold.

Kaitlyn stared at her aunt, struck momentarily dumb by the question, although relieved by the subject. Realizing the question was left unanswered, she shook her head. "No thank you." When she saw Casey open her mouth, she interjected. "And please don't lecture me about it. I'm not hungry. When I'm hungry, I'll eat."

Casey opened and closed her mouth repeatedly before finally finding her voice. "I wasn't going to lecture you about it. I was just going to suggest that you get some rest. You look and sound really tired."

Kaitlyn nodded her head, pushing aside the guilt that was rising from partially snapping at her aunt. "…Oh."

The two of them stared at each other and quickly averted their gaze. An uncomfortable silence soon followed.

Casey took a deep breath and started walking to the table, slowly. She took the seat to the right of Kaitlyn and reached out to take her left hand. She decided to wing this conversation.

"Katie –"

"I've asked you to stop calling me that," Kaitlyn mumbled as she violently jerked her hand out of Casey's grasp.

Hurt and confusion crossed Casey's already pale features as she slowly brought her hand down into her lap. "Why?" She asked.

Kaitlyn pursed her lips together, looking away from Casey and withdrawing from the conversation. A chill ran down Casey's spine. "She called you that while she was hurting you, didn't she?"

A whimper was her only response, and when Casey made a move to comfort her, Kaitlyn's body stiffened, forcing Casey to remain in her seat.

"You have to talk about this Kaitlyn; it won't just go away," Casey started gently.

Kaitlyn's head snapped up and she glared at her aunt. "No, but it will make it all better, right?" She asked with sarcasm.

"It will help you to heal."

"Yeah, well I can 'heal' in my own way," she spat.

"By suppressing it?" Casey countered. "Let me tell you something about suppression," she continued when Kaitlyn didn't respond, "it doesn't get rid of the pain or the hurt. It comes back and it comes back tenfold."

"I _can't_ deal with it right now," Kaitlyn said.

"You're not alone. I'm here, and I'll help you."

"Yeah because that's what you do, right? You see something that's broken and you try to fix it." Kaitlyn's voice was shaking with anger, but her eyes were sad and glazed over with tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. She felt hot and flustered, but she didn't care, she continued her rant. "You want to fix me? Start from one of the _millions_ of tiny pieces of me that you can find on the floor and fix me!"

There was a pause between them before Casey got up slowly from the table, feeling rather flustered, and busied herself in the kitchen silently, struggling to keep her emotions in check.

"Not as easy you thought it would be, huh?" Kaitlyn mumbled. She got up and made her way to the opening of the kitchen, leaning against the wall. She saw Casey leaning her hands on the edge of the sink with her back turned to her, her head hung.

"Why are you fighting me on this?" She asked softly.

"Because there is nothing that you can do to help me."

"Just talking about it can help," Casey said, turning around to face her niece.

Kaitlyn shook her head with a sad smile. "It really doesn't."

"You haven't even tried," Casey countered.

"Because it hurts too much, Casey!" She snapped. "Physically and mentally! It hurts to just be!" She pushed off the wall and made her way into the spare bedroom. "So you'll excuse me if I don't feel much like talking," she threw over her shoulder before slamming the door shut.

Casey was left alone in the kitchen. She pressed her lips together and nodded her head. Feeling the strain of the last two days she walked out of the kitchen and into the bathroom, closing the door and stripping out of her clothing. She turned on the shower and let it run for a few seconds before stepping inside, letting a minor part of her stress slip away under the scalding heat and standing there for a good ten minutes before reaching for the shampoo.

Once she finished her shower, she wrapped a towel around her slim frame and another towel around her head. She padded to her bedroom and dried herself before putting on a pair of sweatpants and her Harvard sweater. She toweled her hair dry as best she could before tying it up in a bunch with a hair tie and walked back out to the lounge room, where she curled up on one corner of the couch and cried quietly to herself.

--------

"Any word from them?" Olivia asked, referring to Munch and Fin. Although telling Casey she needed to talk to her niece by herself, Olivia hadn't stopped fidgeting and asking questions since she got back to the precinct.

"Since the last five minutes you asked me, Liv?" Elliot asked with a smirk. "No."

Olivia sighed, throwing down the pen that she had been fiddling with.

"They'll get her, Liv," he assured her.

She nodded her head. "I know."

"Heard from Casey, yet?"

Olivia shook her head. "I told her to call me if she needed anything, and I told her I'd call her if she came in."

"Figured you would have been home with her."

"No, I'm working on this case," she responded, looking up at Elliot with determination.

Elliot smiled. "I've no doubt about that, Liv. But this is going to be hitting Casey pretty hard. You think that maybe she might need you right now?" He asked, pinning her with a stare that dared her to argue his point.

Olivia smirked. "_You're_ giving _me_ tips?" She asked with a raised brow, not able to help herself.

Elliot chuckled. "I tell you from personal experience. If I had of been there for Kathy more often, who knows where we'd be now," he said with a shrug.

"True as that might be, _I'm_ the one that told her she had to do this for herself, by herself."

"And you're not allowed to change your mind?" He countered. When Olivia said nothing in response, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "Go." At Olivia's startled look, he added, "I'll cover for you."

Olivia stared at him for a few moments, contemplating this suggestion. She nodded her head, smiled her thanks and walked out of the precinct, grabbing her coat and scarf along the way.

"And where is she going?" Don asked, coming up to their desks.

"Lunch," Elliot answered, looking up at his captain.

Don crossed his arms over his chest with a small smile. "And how long will she be on this lunch break?"

Elliot cleared his throat. "A while."

Don nodded his head. "Tell Olivia to see me in my office when she gets back."

Elliot perked up in his seat. "You taking her off the case, Cap'n?" He asked.

"Just tell her to see me in my office when she gets back." With that, Don turned on his heel and walked back into his office.

--------

Olivia took a deep breath as she unlocked the door to the apartment and pushed it open. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to find, but was surprised to see her girlfriend sitting to one corner of the sofa, with her knees drawn up, hugging a cushion tight to her chest. Olivia closed the door behind her and locked it, slipped her shoes off, hung her scarf and coat up on the rack and walked towards the couch, sitting down next to her and allowing Casey to fall into her arms.

Olivia stroked Casey's hair and remained silent, waiting for Casey to talk.

Casey pulled back out of Olivia's embrace and took a deep breath to compose herself. "It uh… It didn't go so well, Liv," she mumbled. "It was quite disastrous, actually." Olivia said nothing and waited for Casey to continue. "She's… really angry. And she's hurting. But she won't talk about it…"

"You just need to give her time. You've told her that you're here for her, so when she's ready, she'll know where to go."

Casey nodded her head and drew in a deep breath. "Any word from Munch or Fin?"

Olivia shook her head. "No not yet."

Casey sighed. She looked up at Olivia as if noticing her for the first time, confusion crossing her pale features. "What are you doing here, anyway? Did Cragen send you home?"

"No, nothing like that," she said, enveloping her in a sideways hug. "I was just worried about you," she said, smiling gently.

Casey's eyebrows narrowed. "The case should be your top priority, Olivia. Not me."

"We can't do anything but sit and wait for Kaitlyn's mother to be brought in. Once Elliot calls me and lets me know, that's when we can do more." Olivia felt Casey's body go limp as she let out a breath and put her head on Olivia's shoulder.

Both women heard a door open, and Casey jumped out of Olivia's arms and turned her head to see Kaitlyn walk out and shuffle to the recliner. She sat down and looked at the women sitting beside her on the sofa, noting their proximity to each other, and raising an eyebrow. "Detective," she greeted through her teeth.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked, brushing the coldness off.

"On top of the world," she responded sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Kaitlyn," Casey warned, giving her niece a stern look.

Kaitlyn glared at her aunt, and then looked at the detective. "I'm sorry, detective. I'm not exactly a 'people person' right now," she said with a false smile and a false perk in her voice. "If I had known you were here, I would have stayed in the bedroom."

"That's enough, Kaitlyn!" Casey snapped, instantly feeling guilty at the look of fear registered on Kaitlyn's face. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"Don't be. I deserved it." She glanced at Olivia before staring at the floor. "I'm aware that you're trying to help, detective, but I'm allowed to be angry."

"I know," Olivia agreed. "But I'm not the enemy," she added.

"I know."

They quickly fell into silence; the only sound that could be heard was the ticking of the clock and the humming of the refrigerator.

Kaitlyn subtly studied the two women sitting to her left.

"How long have you been dating?" She asked, her eyebrows narrowing in question.

Caught completely off guard, it was all Casey could do not to choke on her own spit. Her mouth hung open before she snapped herself out of it and closed her mouth again. Olivia, on the other hand, was still apprehending the question, her eyes wide. Her mouth slid into a grin as she began to chuckle nervously, stealing side glances at Casey.

Casey cleared her throat. "What makes you say that?"

"Look at how you're sitting," she began. "Don't move," she added after both Casey and Olivia began to shift. "You're practically sitting on top of each other," she pointed out, shaking her head. "Your bodies are yearning for the contact that they always get from the other. You're consciously keeping it from me, but subconsciously you're crying out for each other because you can't openly be a couple in front of me." They looked at each other and realized that she was pretty much right. Without even realizing it, and without intent, they were seated so that, side by side, their upper arms and thighs were touching. Kaitlyn shrugged. "Either way, whether you like it or not, it's finding some form of contact, which the two of you are oblivious to, because it's second nature to practically squeeze on to one cushion on a sofa that fits three people."

This time, both Olivia and Casey's mouths hung open.

"The looks on your faces also gave it away." She looked at Olivia. "And the fact that Casey rang you first this morning, before the hospital, in a state of panic and no less then five minutes later you're on the doorstep." She raised an eyebrow at them both. "That's _way_ too involved for a detective."

Olivia glanced at Casey nervously, while Casey stared, wide-eyed, at her niece.

"Your… relationship is none of my business," Kaitlyn began, sensing the uneasiness amongst them. "It's consensual. It wasn't for me," she mumbled. She looked at Casey. "I don't understand why you thought you had to hide it. It was before anyone knew who hurt me. I thought we were closer than that…"

"We are," Casey argued.

"Then quit walking on eggshells. I'm not going to hate you because you're a lesbian. I'll probably be uncomfortable, but it's going to be because of my own personal issues and it's going to be something that I'm going to have to work through. You can't shelter me."

"Okay," Casey said, nodding her head.

There was silence before Kaitlyn looked up at Olivia with a stern gaze and said, "And since Casey is going to completely ignore everything I've just said, I suggest you help the situation by staying here – since I assume you live here, and not hinder it by backing her play."

Sounding more like a threat than a suggestion, Olivia had a hard time getting her words out, looking, instead, like a fish out of water. She looked to Casey for some form of help but ended up having to nudge her out of the shock.

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**As usual, reviews are much appreciated, feedback is welcome and suggestions - constructive criticism is appreciated also, so don't be afraid to do so.  
**


	12. Chapter 11

**Okay, so right off the bat - this chapter is just a long babble. It has some Casey/Olivia moments, some Kaitlyn/Olivia moments, but it's just all very long. I needed to get Kaitlyn and Olivia talking and once I started, I couldn't stop it all just seemed to flow. That being said, it's a light chapter.  
**

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It was six o' clock in the evening when Olivia got back to the precinct and it was two thirty in the morning when she got back to the apartment. Obeying Cragen's order, Elliot told Olivia to see him in his office and she was told that she could have time off if she wanted to. When she replied with a strong 'no', Cragen simply nodded his head and told Olivia to get back to work.

As she tip toed through the apartment she practically jumped out of her skin when she saw the lamp on the end table turn on. She held her hand to her heart and regained her breath. As she walked over to ask Kaitlyn why she was sitting in the dark, she realized that there was a look of fear strewn across the young woman's face. She eyed Olivia carefully as she made her way to the sofa and sat down.

Olivia hesitated. "You thought I was her, didn't you?" She asked in a hushed tone, careful not to wake Casey.

"I was asleep on the couch. Heard a noise; woke up; forgot my surroundings so I turned on the lamp."

Olivia nodded her head. "How long were you asleep?"

"Not long," she admitted. "Probably ten minutes?"

"You were just sitting in the dark until you fell asleep?"

"I had the television on a timer. I could feel my eyes getting heavy, so rather than waste electricity, I put a timer on it in case I fell asleep." She looked at Olivia with a coy smirk. "I'm not that morbid, detective."

"I don't believe I ever said you were."

Kaitlyn nodded her head and reached for the television remote, turning it on and turning the volume down lower than what it already was.

Taking that as her hint to leave, she got up off the sofa and began walking into the bedroom.

"Could you do me a favor please?" Kaitlyn asked just before Olivia reached the door.

Olivia turned around. "Sure."

"Could you get me some paper and a pencil?" She asked, not wanting to get up and disturb her ribs because she had found a comfortable position to sit in.

Olivia nodded her head. "How much paper would you like?" She asked as she headed toward the computer.

Kaitlyn shrugged. "I…I don't know."

Olivia looked at Kaitlyn, bent down and opened the doors of the computer table, pulling out an entire packet of paper that had not been touched. She then got a pencil out of the container and walked back over to Kaitlyn, placing them on the end table.

"There are two hundred sheets in the packet. Don't feel bad if you use it all," she said with a gentle smile.

Kaitlyn offered a small smile. "Good night, detective."

"Night." She walked back towards the bedroom and turned around quietly to watch Kaitlyn as she carefully and quietly opened the packet of paper, pulled a sheet out and began to draw. She then walked into the bedroom and gave in to sleep.

------

Six o' clock came too quickly and if it wasn't for Casey sleeping beside her, Olivia would have thrown the digital clock to the other side of the room. She, instead, rolled over and shut it off and lay in bed for a few moments. She felt Casey shift, and Olivia stayed stock still until Casey's breathing evened out again. She drew in a deep breath and rubbed her eyes before getting up out of bed, picking out her clothes for the day and trudging into the shower in their room, shutting the door behind her so the noise wouldn't wake Casey up.

When she was done, she walked out of the bedroom and was relieved to see Kaitlyn asleep on the couch. She walked quietly to the sofa, picked up the pencil and the paper that had fallen on the floor and then got the blanket that was on top of the sofa and draped it over Kaitlyn. She walked into the kitchen and made herself a coffee.

Feeling weight on her body, Kaitlyn's eyes fluttered open. She looked around and wondered when she covered herself with the blanket. She heard the kettle boiling in the kitchen and realized that she didn't do it; whoever was awake had done it. She got up off the couch, walked over to the table, slowly, and took a seat at the head of the table.

Olivia headed out of the kitchen with her coffee in her hand and was surprised to see Kaitlyn sitting there.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't. I wasn't as asleep as I looked," she assured. "What's the time?" She asked drowsily.

"Six thirty. How long were you asleep for this time?"

"Thirty minutes," she answered. She then looked at the television. "Good Morning America had just started. Must have fallen asleep between then and now."

Olivia nodded her head. "Do you want anything? Tea? Coffee?" She offered.

"No… Thank you."

Olivia nodded to herself and took a sip of her steaming hot coffee.

There was an eerie silence between the two of them before Kaitlyn broke it.

"Earlier this morning," she began slowly. "When you asked me if I thought you were her… You were right. I did."

Olivia put her coffee down on the table and looked at Kaitlyn. She didn't say anything; afraid that if she opened her mouth, Kaitlyn would close hers.

"I heard a door open and I panicked. I couldn't find my baseball bat, which is why I turned on the lamp. I was half telling the truth. I did forget my surroundings." She looked at Olivia. "I guess it's lucky I turned on the lamp." She yawned and covered her mouth, rubbing her eyes and leaning her temple into her hand as she rested her elbow on the table. "I remember one time, dad came home early. He opened the door to my room, and I reached for my bat and had it ready to strike my mother if she came near me… If he didn't turn on the light when he did, I probably would have clocked him. He asked me why on earth I was up so late and why I had a bat in my hands. I made up a lame excuse about how I heard noises and I thought it was a robber. He bought it. Never spoke about it again." She rested both arms on the table and sighed. "I can't sleep… Every time I close my eyes…" She shook her head, looking helpless. "Even when I was asleep, I wasn't really asleep. She's always there."

Olivia drew in a breath. "I have a friend; a psychiatrist friend –"

"Talking doesn't help."

"Not yet. But even listening to what someone has to say can help." Seeing the look of skepticism on her face, Olivia backed away from the conversation. "I'm not saying you have to go and see her… but just consider it."

"Casey asked you to talk to me about that didn't she? Because of yesterday…"

"Casey doesn't know that I'm bringing it up."

"Why are you bringing it up?" She asked.

"It's… easier to talk to a stranger than it is to talk to someone you know," Olivia admitted.

"You sound like you're talking from experience."

Olivia shrugged with a small smile, relieved that Kaitlyn was finally warming up to her. She fished through her pants pocket and pulled out a card, sliding it across the table to Kaitlyn.

"You never did say how long you and Casey have been together," Kaitlyn reminded Olivia as she glanced down at the card. She picked it up and started fiddling with it. Olivia looked at her. "That deer in the headlights look tells me it's been more than just a few months," she mused.

Olivia nodded. "A year and a bit… three months," she amended.

Kaitlyn stared at Olivia, watching her squirm. "Well you must be good for her if you've been together for this long," she observed.

"I like to think so," Olivia said, hiding her confusion as to where this conversation was going.

"And you love her," she stated.

"I do."

Kaitlyn nodded her head.

Feeling some kind of acceptance from her, Olivia decided to keep the conversation going. "How have your cramps been?"

Kaitlyn shrugged. "They've died down to a low rumble. Nothing I can't handle."

They heard a door squeak and both turned around to see Casey shuffling her way over to the table. She sat down next Olivia, rubbing her eyes profusely. She ran her hands through her hair and stared bleary-eyed at both Olivia and Kaitlyn.

"What are you doing up?" Olivia asked gently, placing a hand at Casey's back, rubbing circles soothingly.

Casey sighed. "I can't sleep; body clock," she answered, her voice still thick with sleep, stealing Olivia's cup and taking a mouthful of the warm coffee inside.

"I tried to turn the alarm off as quick as I could," Olivia said as she got up and walked into the kitchen to pour Casey a cup of her own coffee.

"It's okay." She looked at Kaitlyn. "Did you get any sleep at all last night?" She asked.

Kaitlyn shrugged. "A little."

Casey nodded her head. "That's good," she said with a smile and wrapped her hands around the warm cup of coffee that Olivia just placed in front of her. "Thank you," she said, glancing at Olivia.

Olivia smiled and resumed her seat at the table next to Kaitlyn and Casey. She was confused when Kaitlyn moved further into her seat, but shrugged it off.

"How are you feeling?" Casey asked.

"Okay, I guess."

"Okay is good," Casey began. "It's not great, but it's good."

"I suppose," she mumbled.

The three fell into silence. Olivia noticed Casey's knuckles turning white from how tight she was holding the handle of her coffee mug. Olivia ran her foot up and down the back of Casey's calf and stared at her, trying to will her to clam down and relax. Casey got the hint and let go of the coffee mug completely, placing her hands in her lap.

Casey tried conversation again. "I called your dad last night. He should be here later tonight, he said he'd call."

Kaitlyn's eyebrows narrowed. "What did you say to him?"

Casey gulped. "Not a lot. Just to get the next flight here and that I'd pick him up from the airport."

"Okay."

Casey tried one last time. "I need to get you down to my building today; the prosecutor wants to prepare you before court," she said before taking a sip of her coffee.

"When?" Kaitlyn asked, refusing eye contact, still fiddling with the card in her hand.

"At nine o' clock."

"Okay."

Clearly hurt by how much Kaitlyn had shut her off, Olivia gripped Casey's hand under the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze before entwining her fingers with Casey's for support.

Feeling the need to change the subject, Olivia cleared her throat and said, "Why don't we go out for lunch once you're done with Alex?" She wasn't expecting much of a response, but it was a change of subject, which is what everyone so sorely needed.

Casey drew in a breath. "Sounds good. I'll call you when we're done." Olivia knew that Casey was trying her best to appear unscathed by her niece's behavior, but it didn't seem to be working that well.

Olivia looked at Kaitlyn, waiting for her response. She shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head.

"Okay, good. We'll, uh, we'll figure where we want to eat when we all meet up." She finished her coffee and got up to walk into the kitchen to clean it up.

Not wanting to be subjected to playing 21 Questions, Kaitlyn got up and began heading to the spare bedroom.

"Where are you going?" Casey asked.

"I'm going to lie down; my ribs are sore." She continued towards the bedroom before Casey's voice stopped her once more.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Kaitlyn stared at her for a few seconds, appearing to actually be thinking about this. She finally shook her head. "No." She turned on her heel and walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Olivia remained in the kitchen and watched the entire exchange. She could not understand why all of a sudden Kaitlyn had withdrawn completely from _both_ of them. It was something that she was going to have to look into the next time Kaitlyn decided to talk to Olivia again… _if_ she decided to. She watched as Casey let out a sigh and sunk in to her chair. Olivia put her mug away and walked over to Casey, taking her hand.

"Come and sit with me on the sofa for a bit."

Casey allowed Olivia to tug her out of her chair and drag her over to the sofa. Olivia sat down and gently pulled Casey down with her. Without needing an order or permission to do so, Casey cuddled up to Olivia like a three year old in a storm. She rested her head on her chest and listened to the steady beating of Olivia's heart, allowing it to soothe her, as Olivia gently stroked her hair. She maneuvered her body so that now her head lay in Olivia's lap. She grabbed Olivia's hand and played with her fingers. "Hi," she said looking up at Olivia.

"Hi," Olivia returned with a gentle smile, using the backs of her fingers to trace Casey's cheeks.

Casey turned in to Olivia's touch and let her eyes flutter close, fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks. Fighting a yawn and losing, Casey covered her mouth with her hand and then rubbed at her eyes, drawing a deep breath and getting herself more comfortable on the sofa with her head in Olivia's lap.

"You should try and get some more sleep," Olivia suggested, moving her hand back to Casey's head and stroking her hair.

Casey shook her head. "No. She might need me, and I need to be available. No."

Olivia noted the quiver in Casey's voice and stopped stroking her hair. "Casey, sit up," she ordered gently. Casey didn't move, so she told her again. "_Please_ sit up." This time she complied, her eyes still closed. Olivia cupped Casey's face between her hands and placed a butterfly kiss on each of her eyelids. "Open," she said just above a whisper. She waited until Casey did as she was told before letting go of her face.

She opened her eyes slowly and looked straight at Olivia through watery vision. Olivia reached out to touch her, but she shrank away from her touch.

"Casey," Olivia started, finding it hard to keep the shock and the hurt from her voice. _This_ was a first, she concluded.

"Don't," Casey whispered, shaking her head. "Just don't." She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. She opened her eyes. "I'm okay."

"Casey," Olivia said in a semi warning tone of voice narrowing her eyebrows at Casey. "You told your niece that suppressing her emotions is not good for her, but you're doing the exact same thing."

The anger that so suddenly flared up in Casey's eyes was unmistakable, and Olivia knew right there that she had crossed a line.

"Don't you dare," she ground out through her teeth.

Olivia visibly backed down. "I'm not trying to start anything, Casey –"

"Then don't say anything at all," she said coldly, standing up and storming into the kitchen, busying herself cleaning things that didn't need to be cleaned.

Olivia slowly got up and walked in to the kitchen, leaning on the wall, watching as Casey fought with her emotions. "It's okay to be upset about it Casey…"

"No it's not," she bit.

Olivia took a step into the kitchen. "Why not?" She asked quietly.

Casey rolled her eyes and shook her head, signaling that the conversation was over. She put the mugs that she was drying back in the cupboard and moved back over to the sink. Olivia took another step into the kitchen and watched her girlfriend intensely.

"Why not?" She asked again. When Casey didn't respond, Olivia walked over to Casey and held her upper arms to stop her from moving around the kitchen. "Can you stop and just talk to me?" She asked a little too loudly.

"It's not my issue to deal with!" She snapped. "My role in this is to be there for my niece and my brother and be strong for them and be the shoulder for them to cry on!" She stopped and shrugged out of Olivia's grasp. "I can breakdown later," she added quietly. Casey looked at the clock in the kitchen. It was seven o' clock; Olivia was late. "You should get to work." There was no room for question. "You're late."

Olivia opened her mouth to argue, but arguing was what Casey did best, so she nodded her head hesitantly, not wanting to fight with Casey at this moment in time. "I'll call you if anything comes up." She moved in and gave Casey a soft kiss on the lips; longer than a chaste kiss should have been but shorter than a passionate one. "I love you," she stated firmly.

"I love you, too," Casey whispered. She used the tips of her fingers to gently push Olivia away to get her to start moving. "Get to work," she ordered in a soft voice.

"Call me if you need me – for anything."

Casey nodded her head. "I'll see you at lunch." She gave Olivia a quick peck on the lips and headed in to their bedroom, stripping her clothing off and stepping into the shower.

Once Casey was out of sight, Olivia walked over to the spare bedroom, knocking on the door softly and waiting for a response. She opened the bedroom door and stuck her head in the room so she wouldn't worry Kaitlyn by entering the room. "I'm heading to work."

Kaitlyn nodded her head. "Where's Casey?" She asked.

"She's in the shower in our room. She shouldn't be too long."

Kaitlyn nodded her head blankly.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

Kaitlyn shrugged her shoulders. "Tired and sore. I didn't expect anything less though."

"Did the doctors give you meds?"

"They don't do anything," she responded shaking her head.

"The meds that the doctors give you are different to the ones you get over the counter," Olivia explained.

"I don't like taking them."

"Well just promise me that you'll take them if it gets too much for you to handle," Olivia said. Kaitlyn looked up at Olivia and hesitantly nodded her head. "Okay. I'm heading off." She held on to the doorknob. "Don't be so hard on Casey; she's just trying to help."

"I know."

"I'll see you at lunch." When she received a nod in response, she closed the door softly and headed out of the apartment and to the precinct.

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"Everything okay at home?" Elliot asked Olivia when she sat down at her desk. He watched as she ran her hands through her hair and slumped in her seat. She reached for a pen and instantly started to fidget.

"Not exactly," she responded. "Anything from Munch or Fin?" She asked as she positioned herself in her seat properly.

"Fin rang an hour ago." Olivia's head snapped up and she bore holes through Elliot with the intense stare she was giving him. "They searched their home with the warrant that Alex got the judge to sign off for and found the bat and the mother."

"Where was she?" She asked.

"Coming back from a local bar. They're on their way back now."

"How far away are they?"

"They're back in Manhattan. Shouldn't be too long now," he concluded.

"I need to call Casey."

Before she could get her phone out of her pocket, the captain stuck his head out of his office. "Benson." He waited for Olivia to stand up from her desk before he disappeared back into his office.

"What's up, captain?" She asked as she closed the door and stood before him.

He walked around the desk and leant on it. "Olivia," he began. "You're not off this case, but just be aware that you're toeing the line." When Olivia gave him a puzzled look, he continued. "Kaitlyn isn't related to you, but you are dating Casey. So just be careful with what you do and how you do it or else the defense attorney will be all over you and destroy all three of you on the stand. Do you understand me? You go by the book at all times."

Olivia nodded her head. "Yes captain."

Don's expression softened then as he asked, "How are you holding up?"

Olivia shoved her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. She sighed. "I can't imagine what it must be like to have the victim be a member of the family." She cleared her throat. "I'm worried. About both of them. I'm worried that Kaitlyn isn't dealing properly. She either won't or she can't and we can't say anything because she is like a ticking time bomb. And Casey is bottling it all up to be the strong one and be there for Kaitlyn, which would be fine if she let it all out afterward, but she won't."

"So you're trying to be there for both of them?"

"Well let's see… Kaitlyn won't talk to Casey and Casey won't talk to me. Kaitlyn will talk to me and Casey will try to talk to Kaitlyn while I try to talk to Casey."

Don nodded his head. "It's one big circle."

"It's been nothing but circles since Wednesday night." With nothing more to say to the captain, she turned on her heel and walked out of the captain's office back to her desk. Before she could sit down, Elliot came up behind her, motioning with his head toward the interrogation room.

"Let's go."

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**Like it? Hate it? Let me know; push the button.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Okay so I get glares and punches for being really late with a new chapter, but I get points for staying up until 2am the past couple of weeks to try and get this chapter finished, right?  
I've realised that each chapter gets harder to write as I go along, so the delays are to be expected, but hopefully the waits are worth it :)**

A few things I need to clear up - the last chapter said the meeting with Alex is at 9am, - No. I've changed it to 9.30am (You don't need to go back and read it, there was no drastic change). And in this chapter, Kaitlyn is being prepped for her Grand Jury Testimony.  


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Kaitlyn put the pencil and paper down on the bed as she reached over for her cell phone to turn the alarm off. It was now twenty past nine and she had spent the last two hours and twenty minutes drawing while Casey was doing whatever it was she was doing. The two had not spoken to each other since Kaitlyn retired to the bedroom. She remembered that her aunt was rubbing at her eyes a lot and thought that she may have gone back to bed since she could not hear any noises coming from the outside of her bedroom.

She thought it was better that way anyway; she didn't want to say or do anything else that could hurt her aunt any more than what she already had. It wasn't intentional, but she couldn't stop it from coming out of her mouth and couldn't help her actions.

She drew in a breath and ran her left hand through her hair. She slowly got up from the bed and made her way out of the bedroom. Just as she suspected, the lounge was empty and Casey's bedroom door was shut. She made her way to the bedroom door and knocked softly on it.

"Casey?" She called softly. When she got no response, she pushed the door open quietly and walked in to the bedroom, stopping a few feet from the bed. She could see that while Casey's eyes were closed, she wasn't in the most peaceful of slumber. She was in the fetal position, with her eyes squeezed shut, whimpering softly. Kaitlyn slowly approached the bed and sat herself beside Casey's small form. She reached her left hand out and gently shook Casey's shoulder. "Case," she said a little bit louder. Casey's whimpering stopped. Knowing better than to touch Casey a second time while she was in the middle of a dream, she withdrew her hand and called out to her again. "Casey."

Casey eyes slowly opened and she looked up at her niece.

"If I walk out of here to rinse my mouth with mouthwash are you gonna fall asleep?" Kaitlyn asked with a raised brow.

Casey gave her a small smile. "Depends on what time it is," she replied in a husky voice.

"Twenty past nine."

Casey sat up. "Then I guess the answer to your question is no." She cleared her throat. "I'll meet you out there. I'll just change out of my sweats and we'll be out of here."

With a nod of her head, Kaitlyn walked out of her aunt's bedroom and into the bathroom.

She took a good long look at herself in the mirror, unfazed by the stranger looking back at her. She studied every bruise on her face, every stitch, every cut, every scratch, before sighing and searching Casey's cabinets for some mouthwash. She finally found it (second door to the lower right) and put it on the counter while she went to the cupboards in the kitchen and pulled out a cup. Finding one just within her reach, she walked back into the bathroom and poured just under half a cup of mouthwash. In one go she downed it, swished it around her mouth and spat it out into the sink, ignoring the burning sensation it left within her mouth, and ignoring the tears that sprang in to her eyes. She stayed hunched over the sink for a few minutes and spat every so often, before sucking in a deep breath through her nose and exhaling out of her mouth.

She cleared her throat as she looked at herself in the mirror again.

The bruises were fading; they were still dark, but not as dark as before. The deep cuts on her face with the stitches holding them together were beginning to heal, leaving light pink scars in their wake.

A light tap on the door snapped Kaitlyn back to here and now and she turned her head abruptly to the sound.

"Sorry, I didn't mean –"

Kaitlyn shook her head, cutting Casey off. "It's okay." She put the mouthwash back and rinsed the cup, leaving it on the counter. She looked up at Casey. "Ready when you are, I suppose."

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Five minutes later, Casey had brushed her teeth and hair, and the pair were now silently sitting in a cab. Casey had tried to make conversation several times, but her niece was still a closed book. Both were relieved when the cab finally came to a stop outside of the DA's office.

Kaitlyn took off her seatbelt and waited for Casey to pay the cab driver before getting out of the backseat and standing on the footpath, staring at the building ahead of her. It was rather overwhelming, and knowing what she was here to do did not make it any better for her either. She could the feel the beginnings of a panic attack, but quashed the feeling with a big gulp of air soon after.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder, gently. She turned her head abruptly to see that the hand belonged to her aunt – like it could belong to anyone else.

"Let's go," she said just above a whisper. When Kaitlyn didn't move, Casey walked and stood directly in front of her, placing her hands on her shoulders. "Nothing I say can make this go any faster or be any easier. I wish it could," she started. "I do know that this is the first step in the healing process and I'll be with you for as long as you need me to be there," she vowed, never breaking eye contact.

Dismissing the statement with a shake of her head, Kaitlyn mumbled, "I'll be okay…" before making a move toward the building in front of her.

Casey walked by her side as close as she could without making it uncomfortable for Kaitlyn until they got to the elevators. She pushed the button and they waited in silence, ignoring the bustling people behind them, until the elevator _dinged_. When they stepped inside the cart, the button already pushed, Casey couldn't help but stare at her niece, studying all the marks that could be seen on her body.

"So does it look worse to someone on the outside?" Kaitlyn asked, feeling eyes upon her.

"Probably the same as how you see it," Casey replied noncommittally, feeling slightly guilty for staring.

Kaitlyn scoffed. "A typical lawyer's response…"

Before Casey could respond, the elevator _dinged_ once more signaling their arrival to the correct floor – not that she minded the sudden intrusion. She headed out of the elevators once the doors opened and held her hand in place, stopping the doors from closing again. She waited as Kaitlyn gathered her bearings and fought with herself over whether she was going through with this or not. Sucking in a deep breath, she willed her legs to walk and joined her aunt on the outside of the elevators.

The walk was short, which Kaitlyn was thankful for as her ribs were aching, and before they knew it they were standing outside Alex's office, knocking on the door.

"Come in," came the reply.

Casey opened the door to find Alex on the phone waving them in. She closed the door behind them and stood next to the sofa that Kaitlyn had sat down on right by the door, noting how Kaitlyn avoided the two chairs near Alex's desk.

Alex looked up over the rim of her glasses as she held the phone to her ear and smiled briefly before saying in to the phone, "They're here." She hung up the phone and checked the clock on her desk; nine forty-five – they were late. Not wanting to add to their stress, she let it slide and proceeded to tell them who was on the phone. "That was Branch," she started. "He wants to see you in his office."

"Yeah, well he can wait. I'm not leaving," Casey stated firmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Alex looked between Kaitlyn and Casey. "Let's talk," she said, nodding towards the door. She stood up and walked towards Casey, opening the door to let her out first.

Casey looked at Kaitlyn, not missing the plea in her eyes to stay. She sighed, knowing where this would go if she remained stubborn. "I'll be right outside, and I'll be right back," she promised. She walked out of the office with Alex following and closed the door behind her. Before Alex could begin to say anything, Casey had already begun talking. "I've already made it _very_ clear that I am going to be involved in this every step of the way," she said in a low monotone voice.

"Look Casey, if it were anyone but Kaitlyn you'd have this case. I need to run this my way to avoid any perception of impropriety," Alex countered, standing her ground, careful not to raise her voice.

"She raises an excellent point, Casey," Arthur Branch's thick western accent sounded from behind Casey.

Casey tensed up as she turned to face her boss. "I'm not going to take a back seat in this," she ground out through her teeth.

"You have no choice. You can either step back or you'll force me to take action," Arthur warned. "Don't make it any harder on yourself, Casey," he added.

Casey bit back the urge to whine like a five year old child '_but it's not fair'_ and remained silent. On some level she knew Alex was right, and if the situation was reversed – heaven forbid – she would be telling Alex exactly the same thing. She sighed and folded her arms over her chest, nodding reluctantly. "Fine."

"I'll leave you to it while I start prepping Kaitlyn for her Grand Jury testimony," Alex excused herself before walking back into her office. Casey and Arthur stood in silence before he came to a decision.

"I'm giving you a leave of absence," Arthur said abruptly. Before Casey could open her mouth to object, he continued. "Your niece is going to need you to take care of her."

"Her father's coming in tonight –"

"You're going to need some time to digest everything that's happened. I think two weeks is sufficient."

There was no room for argument. Casey nodded her head to avoid getting in to trouble. "Yes sir." Arthur retreated to his office and Casey knocked on Alex's office door. Without waiting for response, she opened the door and walked in. "Can I have a word with Kaitlyn before you guys start?"

Alex nodded. "Sure." She stood up and rounded her desk. "I'll wait outside."

Casey made sure Alex was completely out of sight before she sat on the couch next to Kaitlyn. Casey drew in a deep breath before speaking. "I think I'm going to leave you two to do what you need to do, and I might head to the precinct to see how everything's going."

Kaitlyn was horrified and she let it show both through her facial expression and her tone of voice. "Why?!"

"I don't want to overwhelm you –"

"And you think leaving me here will make me any less whelmed?!"

"I'll only be in the way if I stay," Casey tried.

"I don't care!" She snapped. "Just don't go. I don't want you to leave," she added quietly.

"Alex won't hurt you," Casey assured. She bowed her head to catch her niece's eyes. When she saw the look of fear etched in them she faltered. "Listen," she started, fighting the urge to guide her niece's face so she could look at her. "I can't be here for this. It might give the wrong impression to a jury if the defense attorney questions it. The _last_ thing I want is for you to not get justice because I was trying to help…"

Kaitlyn sat quietly for a moment, then spoke so softly Casey almost had to strain to hear her. "Why didn't you just say that?"

"Because I…" Casey paused, trying to find something, anything, to say. She had nothing. "I don't know," she finally responded. "I'm just… not sure what you can and can't handle right now."

"Well if you gave me a half a chance you'd see that I would have handled that a lot better than what you tried to force feed me earlier," Kaitlyn mumbled.

"I'm sorry," Casey apologized, shoulders slumped. "I promise, from now on, no more sugar coating, okay?"

Kaitlyn nodded. "Okay."

Casey sighed inwardly. She knew she had to leave but she was worried; just because her niece understood _why_ she had to leave didn't necessarily mean that she was going to let her just walk right on out. She stood up hesitantly. "I should… go. Alex is probably getting impatient and you need to start getting prepared for the Grand Jury," Casey offered up lamely.

Kaitlyn continued to nod, looking anywhere but at Casey.

She knelt down in front of her. "You need to know that if I had it my way, I'd be trying this case and doing things the way I want."

"It wouldn't have mattered if you fought tooth and nail for my case, you wouldn't have got it – it's too unethical."

"But you do know that, right?" Casey asked after a beat.

Kaitlyn sighed. "Yeah."

"Good." Casey searched Alex's desk for a piece of paper and a pen and scribbled on it when she found them. She handed the paper to her niece. "That's Olivia's cell phone number. If you can't get through on mine, call hers."

"Why wouldn't I be able to get through to your cell?" She asked with alarm, ignoring the piece of paper.

"It's just in case," Casey assured gently. She held the piece of paper out to Kaitlyn again.

She took the piece of paper and tucked it in to her pocket without even giving it a glance. In any other situation, Casey would have chastised her niece for being so cold towards Olivia; but in this situation, she knew there were reasons for it. They may not have come to light yet, but they would eventually. So Casey nodded to herself and started towards the door. She turned around just as she reached it and said, "The second you've had enough, call me." She waited until she received a faint nod from Kaitlyn before opening the door and closing it behind her. She scanned the area outside of Alex's office and rested her eyes upon the blonde that sat just outside. She stood up when she noticed Casey. "Take care of her."

It was more of a plea than a threat, but Alex got the intended message. She gave Casey a small smile. "I will."

With nothing more to say, Casey trekked to the elevators and made her way, slowly, to the 1-6.

Alex waited until Casey was out of her view before walking back into her office. She noticed that Kaitlyn hadn't moved from her position on the sofa. She walked over to her desk and sat down, sensing the uneasiness in her office between them. She pulled out a pad of paper and a pen.

"What do you think the outcome of all of this will be?"

Alex's head snapped up and she stared into the intense brown gaze that was boring holes through her ice blue eyes. She wasn't expecting that. Hell she wasn't expecting anything from Kaitlyn. If anything, she thought Kaitlyn might have fought her on this.

Put on the spot, Alex decided to answer truthfully. "I guess this could go either way. It's not the first time a case like this has come across my desk, but female rapists aren't really that common, either."

"So more than likely they'll find her innocent?" She asked quietly.

"With the evidence we have and with your testimony there should be a guilty verdict," Alex answered.

"Is that a promise or an opinion?"

Alex drew in a breath and picked up the pad of paper, standing up and walking around to the chair on the opposite side of the desk. "I think we should get started…"

"And I think you should answer my question," Kaitlyn countered, picking up on Alex's not so subtle change of subject.

"It's a professional opinion," Alex finally answered, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "Even if we don't win," Alex began when she heard Kaitlyn sigh, "You've faced her. You've named her for what she is and you've taken away her power over you by doing that."

"She's my mother," Kaitlyn said without missing the beat. "No matter what, she is the one person who will _always_ have power over me."

Alex was struck silent by the truth in that statement. Kaitlyn was right, but she didn't want to give the girl something else to mull over.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment, neither knowing what to say. Alex shuffled some papers, and cleared her throat. "Right, well we'd better start. Do you want a glass of water or anything first?"

Kaitlyn sighed and shook her head.

Alex sat straighter in her chair and slipped back into her professional persona. "Okay, now the defense attorney is going to work very hard at making you anything but comfortable," she explained. "He is going to try to confuse you. If you don't understand the question he is asking, tell him you don't understand; other wise, just answer as briefly and as honestly as you can, okay?"

"So yes and no answers?" Kaitlyn asked, making sure.

"Yes," she answered. "Be sure to look at the person talking to you. We don't want the jurors or the defense to think I'm in any way prompting you."

"Why do I get the feeling I should be writing this down?"

"We're going to be meeting more than once. We'll just keep going through it and my questions until the trial."

"Is she going to be there?" Kaitlyn asked quietly.

Alex shook her head. "Not while you're testifying to the Grand Jury, you'll never have to see her."

"But during the trial…"

"During the trial, yes," she confirmed. "She will be there, but she cannot speak to you."

"But it doesn't mean she won't," Kaitlyn mumbled.

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**I felt that the ending for this chapter was suitable.  
Let me know if you agree by hitting that button. (I'd love to hear from some new people. So anyone reading this, please review:) )  
**


	14. Chapter 13

**Okay, so this is a shorty, but it works... And it's up quicker than the last chapter have been :)  
Nothing much to this chapter. It centers around Kaitlyn's mother being interviewed.**

**I don't own them, I'm just messing with them ;)  
**

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Maria Novak burst in to tears when she had been told that her daughter had been beaten and raped. "Where is she? I want to see my daughter!" She wailed.

Olivia felt sick to her stomach as she watched this woman pretend to care about the welfare of her daughter. She looked to Elliot, who stood behind Maria, and saw his fists clenching and unclenching; watching as he took deep breaths and tried to calm down. She walked over to the seat, opposite Maria and sat down, clearing her throat as she did. "Kaitlyn's with your sister-in-law at the moment; resting."

Maria stood up abruptly. "I have to go see her."

Olivia shook her head and stood up with Maria in an effort to keep at her at bay. "She's okay. Casey is taking good care of her. We just need to ask you a few questions and then you can go and see Kaitlyn."

Maria actually looked torn by this choice and hesitantly nodded her head before sitting back down slowly, going through her bag for a tissue to blow her nose with.

"Did you notice any behavioral changes in your daughter over the last two and a half years?"

"She's a teenager. I just assumed her moods were a part of adolescence."

"And when she came home with bruises and marks on her body, what did you think then?" Elliot asked, moving from behind Maria and taking a seat next to Olivia.

Maria shifted in her seat and swallowed. "You must think I'm a terrible mother…"

"Lady you don't even know the half of it!" Elliot snapped. He was at the end of his tether with this woman and her act.

Olivia took in a deep breath. _Well…_ she thought, _he's opened that door now. May as well walk through it. _"Now, the rape happened on Wednesday morning – in your house," Olivia began. "How could you not have heard it happening?"

"I took a sleeping pill the night before – I have insomnia. I was out of it until I awoke at 6am."

"And the rape happened at 6.15. So can you account for your whereabouts – since you were awake at the time of your daughter's rape – during the fifteen minutes between you waking up and the rape?" Elliot fixed her with a steely eyed glare and clenched his jaw; the vein on his head pulsating.

"Let me get this straight," Maria started slowly, wiping the tears from her face and sniffling lightly. "My daughter was raped and you think _I_ did it?" She asked.

Olivia folded her arms over her chest. "That's what Kaitlyn told us. Do you have a different story?"

Maria took a controlled breath and glared at Olivia. "In case you hadn't noticed, detective Benson, I lack the… _credentials_ to commit a rape."

Olivia leaned over the table and brought her face close to Maria's, their noses almost touching as she growled, "What about physical abuse? You lack the credentials to do that, too?"

"I want a lawyer."

Olivia rolled her eyes and grit her teeth as she stormed out of interrogation room one with Elliot following and joined the captain outside.

"She's right," Don started ruefully. "She doesn't have the correct equipment to rape a person…"

"But she doesn't need 'the right equipment' to abuse someone in every sense of the word, captain!" Olivia argued.

Don sighed. "We're going to have to talk to Cabot. But if I'm correct, we can't charge her for anything more than sexual and physical abuse." With nothing more to say, he walked back in to his office to check in on Casey.

Elliot took in a deep breath as he looked at Olivia and verbalized what they both were thinking. "This is beyond wrong…"

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**Fin and Munch did not Mirandize Maria. They wanted her to think that she was just being told about Kaitlyn's rape and being interviewed, not interrogated.  
:sings: Push the button and let me know...  
**


	15. Chapter 14

**I got this in in under a month so I don't suck all that much. I promise to have the next couple of chapter up soon since I know where I want them to go.  
Thank you to those who are still invested in this fic.**

**I don't own anything except Kaitlyn, Maria and Mark.**

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Olivia, Casey and Kaitlyn were settled at a small table in the back of a hole in the wall Italian restaurant, silently getting through their meals. Kaitlyn wasn't particularly hungry, but neither Casey nor Olivia had seen her eat for the last two days and they were not going to let her skip another meal. Come to think of it, Olivia hadn't seen Casey eating much either. Olivia watched as Kaitlyn pushed the pasta around her plate in an effort to humor them. Stealing a quick glance in Casey's direction, Olivia noticed Casey's food slowly disappearing, but knew she was forcing it, and that sooner or later Casey would stop eating it altogether. While physically she was here, it was evident that her mind was not.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Kaitlyn let out, snapping Olivia out of her reverie. She got up out of her seat and walked away from the table.

Olivia turned to face Casey. "You've barely touched your food."

Casey's eyes snapped up to meet Olivia's, a vicious retort on the tip of her tongue. She thought twice about it before lowering her eyes and giving a noncommittal shrug, with a halfhearted smile. She was upset with the situation; not Olivia.

"If I keep forcing myself to eat the way I have been, I'm going to make myself sick."

"And if you don't eat you're going to make yourself even worse," Olivia countered.

The two found themselves enveloped in silence once again. Olivia swallowed her food and followed it with a sip of water. She was about to stab her fork into her salad when she felt eyes upon her. She laid her fork down and turned to look at Casey.

"What happened in that interrogation room, Liv?" Olivia opened her mouth to respond, when Casey cut her off. "And don't sugar coat it."

Olivia sighed. "Not a lot."

"But you got _something_?" Casey asked, sounding hopeful.

"Not a confession," she concluded. "She asked for a lawyer as soon as she realized we knew."

"Who's defending?"

"Langan."

"Shit," Casey cursed under her breath, her stomach falling three floors. Trevor Langan was a prick, sure, but he was _good_. Feeling the beginnings of a migraine she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"It's not as bad as it seems, Casey," Olivia tried.

Casey's eyes snapped open and she glared at her girlfriend. "Liv, my win loss ratio against Trevor Langan is sitting _just_ above the win column!" She hissed.

"Well you can't go on previous history. You need to take it case by case," Olivia countered. "So does Alex."

Before Casey could say anything more, Kaitlyn returned to the table, resuming her seat next to Casey and opposite Olivia. She eyed her pasta in disgust before pushing it away and sighing. She was beginning to feel the past two days take its toll on her and took a sip of water hoping to ease the nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach. Feeling bile rising in the back of her throat, she went for her second option.

"Casey?" she managed. "I don't feel too good."

Casey looked at her niece carefully, concern etched through her pale features. "Why, what's wrong?" She placed a hand on Kaitlyn's arm and was surprised when she didn't pull away.

"I just… I need to… lie down." Her eyes were beginning to flutter close and she let her head fall to rest on Casey's shoulder, rubbing at her forehead intensely trying to get rid of the headache that managed to snake its way in.

Casey nodded her head. "Come on. Let's get you back."

Kaitlyn waited for Casey to get up first so she could then lean on her for support walking out of the restaurant. Olivia gave Casey the keys to the car and then walked over to pay the bill before joining the two in the car and driving back to the apartment.

Once there Kaitlyn headed straight for the spare bedroom and lay down on the bed. Casey followed with a glass of water in hand and offered it up to her niece who took it and drank it greedily. She handed the glass back to Casey and for the first time since arriving, looked her in the eyes. She instantly regretted doing so when she was met with two very sad green orbs.

"Don't."

"Don't what?" Casey asked in the same monotone that Kaitlyn had provided.

"Don't look at me with the sympathy eyes," she ordered. "I don't need sympathy; not now, not ever."

"I'm sorry," she apologized, averting her eyes.

Kaitlyn sighed. "I'm not scolding you Casey, I'm just…" Kaitlyn paused. "I don't want to keep being angry at you," she explained. "You don't know what sets me off and at the moment, neither do I, but I know more than you do right now. By telling you what not to do around me, it will lessen the chances of me snapping at you." Kaitlyn shoulders sagged as she shook her head. "Withdrawn. I'm just rambling. I'm really tired…"

Knowing that when she changed the subject she liked it to be kept that way, Casey rolled with it. She would pick up this conversation later when she sensed Kaitlyn was in the right frame of mind for it.

"Get some sleep," Casey said gently. "You haven't slept a wink since you got here."

"Easier said than done," Kaitlyn retorted. "I can't will my brain to turn off; it has a mind of its own – no pun intended," she added, rolling her eyes at her own remark.

"I know. I haven't been able to switch mine off either," she admitted, sighing. "Just try to rest… at the very least."

Kaitlyn nodded. "Have you still got your Ipod?"

Kaitlyn and Casey's tastes in music were at opposite ends of the scale – while Casey liked more classical sounding pieces, Kaitlyn was more into soft rock. Of course if a song sounded half decent, there would be nothing to stop her from liking it. She liked music and she always found that her thoughts fought to be heard while the music was blaring loudly through the headphones in her ears.

Nodding her head instead of questioning her, Casey walked out of the bedroom running into Olivia along the way.

"Everything okay?" She asked, following Casey into their bedroom, watching her rummage through the top drawer on her side of the bed.

"Yeah," she answered, still distracted by finding her Ipod. Giving up, she stopped and turned around looking at her girlfriend, her eyebrows narrowed in question. "Liv? Where did I put my Ipod?"

Olivia winced. "It's in my drawer. I borrowed it the other week and forgot to put it back."

Casey made a noise to signify that she heard the answer and walked over to Olivia's drawer, pulling out the green Ipod in question before trudging back in to her niece's room.

When she walked out, she continued in to the lounge room and sat down next to Olivia, sighing. Olivia put her arm around Casey and began to stroke her hair.

"You know, resting might not be such a bad idea, Case," she prompted, tucking a stray lock of red hair behind Casey's ear.

If Casey had the energy, she would have fought Olivia on the topic. Now that she thought about it, stifling a yawn in the process, she realized that the dark haired detective was right; it didn't sound like a bad idea at all.

She settled in to her lover's arms and sighed, though not out of frustration. Olivia wrapped her arms around Casey and kissed the top of her head. She held her for a few more seconds before reluctantly loosening her grip to get up off the couch.

The vice like grip she felt on her wrist made her stop and look at Casey.

"Please stay? Just until I fall asleep?"

"Okay," she agreed, without hesitation.

She settled down on to the couch and Casey positioned herself so she was in the fetal position with her head in Olivia's lap.

"Liv?" She began.

"Yeah, Case…"

"I'm sorry about this morning –"

"Shh. It's forgotten," Olivia assured. "Just get some sleep."

Casey nodded sleepily, letting her eyes flutter shut and allowing sleep to take over.

When Olivia felt Casey's breathing even out she reached for her phone and dialed Elliot's cell phone number.

"El, listen," she greeted. "I'm going to take the rest of the day… Everything is okay; I just don't want to leave Casey right now. Can you cover for me?" She cringed at Elliot's hesitation before he answered. "Thank you," she said with a small smile as she hung up the phone and watched as Casey slept.

--------

When Casey opened her eyes, she was surprised to see a pair of jean clad legs underneath her head. She turned on to her back and was met with Olivia's sleeping face in return.

Not wanting to disturb her she slowly and gently sat up. Drawing in a deep breath she got up off the couch to check in on Kaitlyn. The door was left ajar and she peeked through, relieved to find that she, too, was asleep.

Casey walked back over to Olivia and gently guided her body so she was lying down on the couch before covering her with the blanket.

This task proved pointless as no sooner had the blanket hit her body, Olivia had woken up.

"Hey," she greeted hoarsely. "How long have you been awake?"

Casey shrugged. "About two minutes." She looked at the time on the VCR; it was six in the evening. "A whole four hours. That's longer than I've had in the past two days."

"Well you haven't had that much sleep, so your body must have finally given in for a bit." She sat up and cleared her throat. "How's Kaitlyn?"

"Sleeping – thank God," she replied. She walked over to the couch and sat next to Olivia, staring at the wall.

"What's wrong?"

Casey sighed. "I don't like just sitting by idly watching everything as it happens. I feel useless."

"There's not a whole lot you can do, Casey."

"I know that. It doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I never said you did," Olivia tried. "I know this is hard on you, Case, and I want to help, but you need to _want_ to let me."

"I don't want your help. I don't _need_ it," she snapped.

Olivia slumped back in to her chair defeat flickering across her features. She knew there was no point in arguing with Casey when she was in this mood. It certainly wouldn't help and she knew that if she kept pushing they'd end up in an argument; heaven knows they'd done enough of that this morning.

"Well when you are ready just let me know."

Before Casey could respond, the detective got up off the couch and headed in to the kitchen to make some coffee.

Feeling guilty, and rightfully so, she stood up to follow Olivia but the incessant knocking on the apartment door caught her attention causing her heart to skip beats. She knew who was on the other side of that door.

She stood frozen to the spot for a few moments. Kaitlyn was still asleep; Olivia was in the kitchen probably hurt by her rejected offer of help. She was torn between wanting to get to Olivia and having to answer the door. She needed just five minutes to apologize and make things better. The knocking continued; louder and faster. She glanced towards the kitchen again as Olivia popped her head out.

"You gonna get that?"

Casey sighed and nodded. She hoped Olivia could see the regret on her face as she turned and walked towards the door to answer it.

She only had the door open three inches before Mark Novak stormed the place. "Where is she? Is everything okay??"

"No," Casey forced herself to say. "Everything is _not_ okay."

* * *

**Voila!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Whee!! Another chapter! I wish I could say that in the spirit of the 9th season of SVU I got inspired and decided to write, but we haven't got SVU yet... Probably won't until the end of the year or beginning of next :(**

**Anyway here is the latest installment.**

* * *

Casey hadn't stopped pacing by the front door since Mark had disappeared from the apartment. He had tried (and failed) multiple times at talking to his daughter. Kaitlyn silently thanked whoever it was who decided to put locks on the bedroom door. Finally giving up he announced his need for fresh air before storming out of the apartment.

That was an hour ago. She had tried his cell phone numerous times but eventually just got his voice mail.

Having had enough of this, Olivia walked over to Casey and forced her to sit down. "Pacing is not going to make him come back. He needs time to take everything in."

"I never got that luxury!" She snapped before she could catch herself. She put her head in her hands and groaned. "He can't run away from this. It's happened; it's _real_."

"He knows that sweetie, but there wasn't a whole lot he could do. She didn't want to talk to him," Olivia tried.

"She didn't want to talk to me either – she still doesn't, but here we are," she bit back.

Olivia looked at Casey. "Would you want to talk to your father after he'd just found out you'd been raped?" She asked. "Not only raped; but raped by your mother? His wife?"

"I understand your point but she can't keep putting it off, either. The longer she keeps stalling, the more awkward it's going to become."

Olivia looked at her watch; it was eight fifteen in the evening. She looked at Kaitlyn's bedroom door then at Casey.

"Why don't I try to talk to her?"

Casey laughed out loud then clapped a hand over her mouth. "You're kidding right?"

Olivia narrowed her eyebrows, slightly hurt. "Well… No. I mean worst case scenario she shuts down on me, but she's already there. Once you're down the bottom of the steps, you can only climb up them." Casey rolled her eyes, wondering where she was pulling this from. "Besides, she opened up a little to me this morning. She may do it again."

Casey sobered up. "She spoke to you?"

Olivia nodded her head. "Yeah."

"What did she say?" She asked.

Olivia locked eyes with Casey. "She's only just started to trust me, and I'm not even sure if I have that. I don't want to break her confidence."

"In other words," Casey began, "Go and ask her yourself."

"Pretty much," Olivia smiled ruefully.

Casey sighed and nodded her head. "She's not ready to talk to me just yet," she finally admitted. "So you may be our best bet."

Olivia nodded her head and slowly got up from the couch. She lightly tapped on Kaitlyn's door, only to receive no response. She looked at Casey and tried again. "Kaitlyn, it's me." There was still no response. Just as she was about to turn around and walk back to Casey, the door unlocked. Olivia reached out slowly and turned the door knob. She found Kaitlyn sitting on a couch in the corner of the room. "Hey…"

"Can you leave the door open a bit?" Kaitlyn responded.

Olivia nodded and complied. She stayed by the door with her hands in her pockets. "You know, I think Casey was kind of hoping you'd talk to your dad," she began.

Kaitlyn shrugged. "Yeah well… I didn't want to. I have nothing to say."

"You spoke to me this morning," Olivia countered.

"You said it yourself. Talking to a stranger is a lot easier than talking to someone you know."

"So talk to me then."

"I already told you I have nothing to say," she deadpanned.

"So listen," Olivia said with a shrug. "There are two people out there who love you and want to help. They can't do that if you keep pushing them away. You're not just another case to us but that doesn't change the fact that I spend my working life helping people in your situation, or situations similar. The only difference between you and them? They want my help. I can help you talk to Casey and to your father, but you have to let me."

"It. Is not. As easy. As everyone thinks," Kaitlyn ground out through her teeth. "Don't you think I want to go out there and curl up into my father's lap and feel safe?" Her tone was desperate… almost needy. Her voice was strained and Olivia could tell she was hanging by a thread. She was ready to explode. "I wasn't just raped, detective! I was raped by his wife!"

Olivia walked further in to the room and sat down on Kaitlyn's bed. "That's why I'm saying to let me help you. I deal with this on a daily basis."

"How can you even begin to help fix the damage?"

"I'm not saying it's going to be easy, it's going to be far from it –"

"Not helping, which is what you're supposed to be doing, right?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Would you prefer I lied to you? Treated you like a kid?"

Kaitlyn sighed. "I'm _really_ tired. Can we wait until morning?"

"If we break the ice now," Olivia began, "you won't have to dread it tomorrow morning."

Kaitlyn remained unwavering and stared at a spot on the wall. Clearly this conversation was over and Olivia quickly realized that there was nothing she could do to change the stubborn girl's mind. Releasing a breath of air, she got up off the bed and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Soon after, the locks were back in place. She was half expecting Casey to come out with an 'I told you so'; instead she was met with silence as she sat down on the couch next to the shell of her girlfriend.

"Any word from your brother?"

Casey shook her head 'no'. After a few beats, she turned to look at Olivia. "I'm worried, Liv…"

"I know, sweetie."

"_And_ scared, _and_ angry… What if he does something stupid? What gives him the right to just walk out the way he did? What if this doesn't turn out the way we want it to?" Her voice rose with each question.

Olivia placed a hand on the redhead's leg. "Hey, how about we just take this a step at a time, huh?" She rubbed her thumb subconsciously along her thigh in an effort to calm her down. "You know your brother… Do you really think he'd do something stupid?"

"Well no, I mean he's not really the violent type; it takes a lot to push him over the edge," she amended. "But this is his daughter we're talking back. He's no longer _on _the edge; he's way past it."

"Understandably so, but he wouldn't do anything that put Kaitlyn at any kind of risk, so chances are –"

"He won't do anything stupid," Casey finished.

Before either of them could speak, the front door swung open, revealing a disheveled Mark. He walked over to the couch and sat down, putting his head in his hands.

"Where did you go?" Casey asked calmly.

"Down to Central Park," he answered robotically. He nodded towards the closed bedroom door. "Has she come out of there yet?"

"No," Casey automatically responded. "Olivia spoke to her, though."

"Did you get anything from her?" He asked looking at Olivia.

"Just that she's not ready to talk." She felt bad that it was the only thing she could offer.

"And she never will be ready. My daughter doesn't talk, detective," Mark practically spat.

"That's because you never push her," Casey muttered.

"And where has pushing her gotten you?"

An uncomfortable silence took place and the siblings were glaring at each other; each about to snap. Olivia drew in a deep breath and dared to break the staring competition.

"Mark?" His attention was now on her. "I know that it's getting late but we need to go over some details; confirm dates against Kaitlyn's story and your wife's." She cringed when she saw Mark's body stand rigid at the mention of the word 'wife'. He nodded his head and walked back out of the apartment.

"Go with him, I'll see to Kaitlyn and we'll be down shortly," Casey instructed. Olivia nodded and disappeared out the door.

Casey stood up and crossed the lounge room to knock tentatively on the bedroom door. "Kaitlyn? It's me. We need to go down to the precinct again." She waited while she heard shuffling noises, then the click of the door unlocking.

Kaitlyn opened it a crack and looked out to her aunt. "Why?"

"Olivia and Elliot need to interview your father."

"I don't need to be present for that."

Casey nodded. "Then I'll let Olivia know that we'll stay here."

"Casey, I'm nineteen years old, I don't need a babysitter. Go if you want to go, stay if you want to stay. Don't just stay because I'm staying. Dad'll probably want your support anyway…"

Casey hesitated. She wanted to question Kaitlyn – was going to – but knew the result wouldn't end well. For the first time, she backed off. "Okay."

"Okay."

"Call one of us if you need anything."

"Yeah I know the drill."

"We'll be back soon."

--------

Keeping Casey company on the outside of the interview room, the captain watched as Olivia and Elliot interviewed Mark Novak. Don tore his focus away from the interview and looked at Casey. "How are you doin', Casey?" He asked, his voice laced with concern.

"I'm a lot of things at the moment…" she replied in a non committal way, never taking her eyes off of the interview taking place. "I'll be able to differentiate what I'm feeling after the trial," she added.

Don hesitated. "You know… Huang doesn't just shrink the detectives…"

Casey finally tore her eyes away from the mirror, looking at the captain. "Don, listen, I'll be okay once this is finally over. I don't need to have George shrink me," she explained calmly. "Especially when it has nothing to do with me directly."

Not wanting to push her further on the subject, he asked, "How long did Branch give you?"

"Two weeks," she sighed, fixing her attention back to the interview.

--------

"How long ago did you start these tours of yours, Mark?" Elliot asked, sitting opposite him.

"Two and a half years ago," he answered monotonously.

"And you're away for how long?"

"Three months… sometimes six. The students would go back after three months; I'd stay behind for another three."

Elliot looked up from the pad of paper and looked back to Olivia who leant against the wall behind him.

"Did you stay in contact with your wife and daughter often while you were away?"

Mark nodded his head. "Almost every day."

"And you couldn't pick that something was wrong?" Elliot asked, raising his eyebrows and looking at Mark disbelievingly.

"Kaitlyn not speaking to me was nothing out of the ordinary," he informed. "She'd keep the conversations short and sweet…"

"You couldn't pick anything up from the tone in her voice? I can guarantee you she wasn't chipper about it," he said, his voice raising.

"Elliot," Olivia warned, stepping up beside him.

Mark narrowed his eyebrows and stared Elliot in the eyes. "What are you implying?" He asked, disgust dripping from his voice.

Elliot stared him down. "You know damn well what I am implying –"

It happened lighting fast. Mark was up in an instant, leaping over the table and grabbing Elliot by the shirt, picking him up out of his chair and punching him square in the face. Before he could get another punch in, Elliot kicked him in the stomach and Mark doubled over. Olivia was behind him in an instant, pinning his arms behind his back.

"Your call," Olivia said to Elliot.

He shook his head. "No, leave it."

Don and Casey came barreling through the door. Don tended to Elliot while Casey marched straight up to her brother and shoved him hard.

"What are, stupid?!" She yelled. "You just assaulted a _cop_! You wanna go to jail too?!"

"He's not going to jail, Casey. We're not charging him," Olivia told her.

Mark stormed out of the interview room.

"Where are you going?" Casey yelled out after him.

He came back in to the room, standing toe to toe with his sister. "It's late. I'm going to a hotel."

"Take the couch," she told him quietly.

He glared at Casey before walking back out of the interview room and out of the precinct. Casey shook her head and forced the tears to stay where they were. She spun around and looked at Elliot, her eyes turning a jade green.

"What the hell, Elliot?!"

"Casey I was doing my job –"

"You were supposed to be _interviewing _him, detective, not _interrogating_ him!" She yelled.

"I had to be sure, Casey. It was all too coincidental for my liking, even Kaitlyn said so," he tried.

"She amended that, Elliot!"

"Okay, that's enough," Don cut in calmly. "It's been a rough few days, especially for Casey and her family, and emotions are running high. Let's just take a breather." He received no replies from the people in the room. "It's out of our hands now. It's with Cabot." He turned to Elliot and said, "Go and put some ice on your eye before the bruising gets any worse."

Elliot shrugged. "I deserved it, I'll wear it," he said before walking out of the interview room.

Don, Casey and Olivia stood awkwardly in the room until Casey turned to Olivia. "I'm going home. Are you coming?" She asked Olivia evenly.

Olivia glanced at Don, who nodded his head.

"Come on. Let's go."

--------

Olivia and Casey walked into their darkened apartment; the only light was coming from a crack under the door of the spare bedroom. Casey turned the lights on and approached the still closed bedroom door, while Olivia continued in to hers and Casey's bedroom to get changed.

She knocked on the door and waited for a response of any kind. Again, she heard shuffling and the click of the lock before being greeted by Kaitlyn's semi-healing face.

"You're back," she acknowledged.

"Yeah. Just got back now."

Kaitlyn looked at her watch – it was just after ten. She looked behind Casey. "Where's dad?"

Casey sighed. "He didn't come back with us. He got a hotel."

Kaitlyn nodded her head. "Of course…"

* * *

**Like it? Hate it? Push the button, let me know.  
**


	17. Chapter 16

**I come bearing a new chapter!! Yay Me!!  
This chapter does an about face. You'll see why.  
Thanks to my loyal readers and reviewers:)  
And I own Kaitlyn, Mark and Maria... not SVU... Unfortunately. **

* * *

"You're distracted," Alex noted. It had been a whole week since Kaitlyn had shown up. It was now the fourth time she and Alex had met to go over trial preparation and she was distant. She had called her name twice before getting a reaction out of Kaitlyn and even then all she got was two empty brown eyes boring in to her blue ones.

The first two meetings had taken place early in the morning. The last time and this time had been penciled in for the evening since exhaustion had taken the young woman whole and she had been sleeping through the day for the last three days.

Maybe they had done enough this evening.

"I can call your dad if you've had enough," Alex offered. "Or I can drop you off. I have nothing on my schedule for at least another hour." She was met with more silence.

Alex had been informed that Mark Novak had arrived four days ago and was told about what happened at the interview turned interrogation. She didn't know what the end result was. Once Mark had had a couple of days to calm down and apprehend everything he was ready to do whatever he could for his daughter; still intent on staying at a hotel since he knew he and Casey would clash severely on this. Kaitlyn still had her walls up.

Alex moved from her desk and walked around to sit next to Kaitlyn on the other side. She rested her hand on the arm of Kaitlyn's chair.

"It will be over soon, I promise."

"There was no rape," Kaitlyn said offhandedly.

Alex blinked and narrowed her eyebrows. "I'm sorry?" Was all she could trust herself to say.

"This has gone too far; it was never meant to go this far…"

"You're recanting?" Alex asked.

Kaitlyn nodded. "Yes."

"Why?"

Kaitlyn looked at Alex, narrowing her eyebrows. She seemed to prove the blonde theory correct. "Because it didn't happen," she said slowly.

"I know what you're doing, and I know you're scared, but you don't have to do this," Alex tried.

"Yeah. I do. I'm not letting an innocent person go to jail for something I did to myself."

Alex licked her lips and stood up, walking around her desk. "Do you know what happens when you make a false allegation?" She asked, sitting down and staring directly into Kaitlyn's eyes.

"No," she replied, staring back. "So I guess I should go down to the station to make it formal and find out," she continued monotonously.

"Perhaps you should," Alex said defeated. "I'll call your dad and Casey and tell them to meet us there."

--------

Kaitlyn sat in the interrogation room facing the one way and an unhappy looking Elliot. He tapped the pen on the pad of paper irritably, waiting for Kaitlyn to say something, anything.

"I should write down my statement."

Anything but that.

She made a move to reach for the pad of paper, but Elliot slid it out of reach and stared at Kaitlyn.

"What?" She half snapped.

"You don't think I know what you're doing?" Elliot asked, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest.

"If you don't know a recant when you hear one then you're in the wrong line of work."

Elliot chuckled. This was now a game to her. He stood up and walked around the table, sitting next her, dragging her chair so they were face to face. "Why are you recanting?" He asked.

"Because it never happened, and I have to do what's right."

"So how do you account for your bruises? Your cuts? The stitches, your fractured ribs, the fact that you can't stand to be left alone in the same room with Olivia… or any other woman? The splinters, how petrified you were when we first met you… still are…?" He asked.

"It's called acting, detective," she said with a grin. "I never got along with my mother, I _barely_ spoke to my father and the only person who gave a crap about me left me three years ago to go work for the District Attorney's office right here in the big Apple," she explained, staring at the one way, knowing Casey and her father were on the other side. She looked at Elliot again. "I wanted the attention… only there was no one there to give it to me so I went about doing it myself. The fact that detective Benson looked similar to my mother only added more fuel to the fire. It was perfect."

"Uh-huh, so you beat yourself up?" Elliot deadpanned.

"No. That really was caused by a fight at the baseball field."

They sat in silence, Elliot staring Kaitlyn down.

"Why did you use a baseball bat?" He asked after a few beats.

"I needed something quick fast. It was in the corner –"

"You penetrated yourself with a baseball bat?" He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. He leaned forward, their knees touching, catching her eyes. "Kaitlyn listen to me. If you recant," he started slowly, "your mother will walk and she will hurt you again."

Kaitlyn glared at Elliot. "Are you not hearing me, detective?" She asked. "She didn't. Do. Anything to me. I did it. To myself."

--------

"She's lying!" Mark let out, turning to Don.

"There is no way she did that to herself," Casey said. "If she wanted the attention she would have gone straight to her parents to get it. Why is she recanting?" She asked, facing Huang.

He thought about it for a minute. "Could be that she doesn't want to tear the family apart –"

"Doesn't she realize that it wouldn't be her fault?" Mark asked, turning his attention to Huang.

"No. In her mind whatever happens at the end of this, and through out, will be her fault."

Casey turned to Alex. "Has she said anything to you?" She asked.

Alex shook her head. "She doesn't talk unless she's answering my questions…" She paused mid sentence. "Although… When we first met she asked about the chances of getting a conviction."

"What did you tell her?" She asked carefully.

"That it wasn't the first case against a woman for rape, but there aren't a lot of claims against women on rape either. It could go either way but our evidence will help us to gain a conviction."

"Well that doesn't explain why she'd recant," Casey said, narrowing her eyebrows.

"Yes it does," Huang said quickly. "She's not afraid of tearing her family apart; she's afraid her mother will be found innocent," he explained.

"And she thinks that recanting is the best option?" Mark spat incredulously. "There was a fifty/fifty chance at least before she –"

"Calm down, Mark," Casey chastised.

"It's not been made formal yet, Mr. Novak," Don cut in.

"What happens once it's been made formal?"

No one answered him. Mark could feel his temper bubbling over and he glared at his baby sister – a tactic that worked well between the two of them growing up.

Casey drew in a shaky breath. "They'll charge her and arrest her for making a false allegation of rape," she answered quietly.

"But she's lying. You all must know this!" He let out.

"That's why we have detective Stabler in there," Olivia said gently. "He's trying to talk her out of it."

"She is stubborn, detective. When her mind is made up that's it," Mark said, defeated.

There was an uncomfortable silence as Elliot walked out of the interrogation room. He closed the door and leaned against the one way. They all looked at him expectantly. He shook his head.

"She's adamant about the recant," he stated. "I told her about what could happen to her once she made it final…" he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head again. "Nothing. She was unwavering."

"Let us work on her," Casey said, walking out of Olivia's subtle hold, grabbing Mark along the way and walking into the interrogation room.

"Well this couldn't get any worse," Alex said bluntly once Casey and Mark were out of sight.

"We've dealt with these situations before, everything will turn out fine, Alex," Don said.

"Not if she doesn't come clean about lying." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared through the one way.

Olivia stared at the blonde, almost as if noticing her for the first time.

She hadn't changed much. Her hair had grown longer; it was maybe a little blonder than usual and her bangs had grown out completely. Her infamous black framed glasses had made an appearance on her porcelain-like face and her cheekbones were slightly more accented than the last time Olivia had seen her. Looking her over completely, Olivia noticed that Alex had lost a few pounds. She wasn't an unhealthy thin, but she was thinner than Olivia would have liked her to be.

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"Can we go home yet?" Kaitlyn asked with her head resting on the table.

Casey looked at Mark and waited for his response. When he couldn't provide one, she answered for him.

"We can't leave until you either write your statement, or come clean about lying."

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes, picking her head up from the table. "God you sound like them," she said, nodding her head towards the mirror. "When are you all gonna get it?" She asked, narrowing her eyebrows in frustration. "_I lied_."

"No. You didn't."

"Who's telling the story here, _Aunt_ Casey?"

The room fell silent.

Mark walked over to his sister who was standing by the door. "Can't we take her home and let her sleep on it?" He asked quietly.

She shook her head. "She needs to take it back or write it down. We can't let her leave before that; it's unethical."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not even here!" Kaitlyn snapped. "I've been wanting to get out of here since I first got here, but detective 'I'm Too Proud' Stabler won't let me write my god damn statement!"

Casey was getting sick of this. She wanted to go home just as much as Kaitlyn and Mark did. She opened the door and stormed out of the interrogation room, coming back in shortly after with a notepad and pen. She threw them on the table in front of her niece.

"So write it."

She stormed back out of the room and out the front doors of the precinct to get some air, leaving Kaitlyn and Mark staring after her open mouthed.


	18. Chapter 17

**Come on. I get kudos for this one. Two chapters in the space of a week? Two weeks? I roxxor!  
Enjoy guys! **

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"Screw you, Casey! I don't need this shit from you!" Kaitlyn yelled from the bedroom door. "You're my family! You're supposed to have my back, not watch as they arrest me!"

"I did have your back! I gave you a mile, you barely took an inch!" Casey yelled back from the lounge room. "What else could I say? What else could I do?" She threw her hands up in frustration and stormed into the kitchen before walking straight back out again. "And you know… What the hell else did you think was going to happen after you wrote your twisted version of the truth? Which by the way? Is _not_ the truth!"

"You're gonna need to get over it, Casey. I'm not as perfect as everyone perceives me to be," she snarled.

Casey glared at her brother who stood by the front door, leaning on it with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Are you going to jump in any time soon, or are you just going to stand there and observe?" She snapped.

"Yeah because he's been _so_ involved for the past two weeks," Kaitlyn muttered, rolling her eyes.

"I think I'm going to get something to eat. I'm starved," he replied casually. He put on his jacket and opened the door.

"Mark!" Casey snapped. He turned around and stared at Casey with an empty look. Casey shook her head pitifully. "Just go."

"Yeah, dad. Just go," Kaitlyn mimicked her aunt.

Casey bit her bottom lip to keep from yelling at her niece. She watched as Mark hesitated before walking out of the apartment completely.

She turned to look at her niece. "Well that was mature," she quipped.

"Well if everyone is going to continually treat me with kid-gloves, then I'm going to damn well act like a kid," she shot back, venomously.

"You aren't too old for a smack, you know." She moved forward into the living room, and for a split second Kaitlyn thought she was coming towards her. Backing away, she looked at her aunt, horrified at the implication.

"You're threatening the girl who has been abused by a parent with a smack? Are you fucking serious, Casey?" Kaitlyn stood there stunned for a moment, and then stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

"No! Kaitlyn! That's not what I meant...I'm sorry!" Casey called after her as she was rushing out of the apartment. She got to the door just as it slammed in her face. Grabbing the handle to open it, she felt Olivia's hands on her shoulders.

"Let her go, Case." Olivia held her tightly, knowing there was no point following Kaitlyn right now. She pulled Casey towards her, wrapping her arms around the fragile woman, stroking her hair gently. "She'll be okay. Just let her walk it off."

Casey clung to Olivia and finally let go. She felt the silent sobs wracking her body before the tears even came. Olivia had slowly walked them into the bedroom, and she sighed when she felt the bed against the back of her knees. Laying on the bed, she curled up, Olivia slipping in behind her and wrapping her body into the redheads, stroking her hair gently. Several minutes later, the sobs subsided and she turned in Olivia's arms. "Thank you," she whispered.

Olivia smiled softly at Casey; the tear stained cheeks and glassy eyes breaking her heart. She dipped her head and kissed the tears away, making her way down flushed cheeks, finally kissing her softly on the lips before pulling back and holding her tight.

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Kaitlyn stood out in the rain and stared at the doors of the precinct, thinking twice about the choice she had made. She sighed. She couldn't very well stand out here all night with her cast up the front of her shirt… and she really didn't have anywhere else to go.

She started up the stairs, slowly.

Elliot was walking out of the captain's office and stopped short when he saw Kaitlyn, soaking wet, standing at his desk. He walked into the crib to get some towels and walked back out, hoping to still find her there.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, handing her the towels, which she took gratefully.

She carefully regarded him. "I…I'm sorry. I just didn't have anywhere else to go," she said just above a whisper.

"How did you get here?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I got a cab," she mumbled, looking anywhere but at Elliot.

Elliot sighed. "Okay. Why don't you go into an interview room and I'll get you something warm to drink."

Kaitlyn nodded wordlessly before walking away from Elliot's desk. He picked up his cell and walked out to the vending machine to get a hot chocolate for Kaitlyn and to call Olivia.

He placed the cup under the nozzle and waited for Olivia to pick up her phone.

"Yeah it's me," he started. "Kaitlyn is safe; she got into a cab and came here." He removed the cup and stirred the contents, listening to Olivia on the other end of the line. He nodded his head though he knew she wouldn't see it. "Okay, see you soon." He hung up and made his way back into the interview room.

He approached carefully and quietly, seeing Kaitlyn staring out of the window down at the bustling city below. She watched as the droplets of rain on the window slid down a path of other rain drops to connect with another droplet, making it bigger and bigger until it reached the bottom; lost in her thoughts.

Elliot walked over to Kaitlyn, placing a hand on the small of her back, to gently snap her out of it. When she turned around, he offered her the hot chocolate. She looked up at him with sad eyes for a few beats, taking the cup, before looking away abruptly. She sunk her teeth into the Styrofoam cup; a habit she had picked up a while back, before taking a small sip of the hot liquid.

"What happened?" He asked.

Kaitlyn took a breath and opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again. She set the hot chocolate down on the window sill. "I should go." She took the towels off from around her shoulders and draped them over the chair.

"You ran from Casey's apartment for a reason; where else are you gonna go?" He asked her.

She stopped in her tracks just before she reached the door.

"Come back and take a seat," he said gently. "No questions," he added.

Kaitlyn took a deep breath and continued for the door. When she opened it, Olivia was standing on the other side. Kaitlyn backed up, walking in to the table, nearly falling over in the process. Luckily Elliot was there to catch her before she fell down. Kaitlyn pushed herself away from Elliot and turned to him with a look of utter betrayal.

"I had to call them to let them know you were safe."

"If I had wanted them to know where I was, I would have told them before storming out of the apartment. But storming out doesn't really work if someone follows you!" She blinked back her tears. "Why did I think I could trust you?" She shook her head and walked out of the interview room

Elliot was about to go after her when Olivia stopped him and slowly followed her up the stairs.

"Don't people usually storm out of buildings?" Olivia asked when she reached the top.

Kaitlyn folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the railing, looking out over the squad room, and shrugged. "No point in running. We both live with Casey and I'd run into you back at the apartment," she explained. "I'd rather spare myself the lecture, thanks," she added sarcastically.

Olivia licked her lips and slowly approached Kaitlyn, being sure to keep at least an arm's length away from her.

"But that's exactly what you've done," she began. "You ran away. From the apartment; the trial. You scared your aunt; she had no idea where you were. It's been a while since you've been to New York, you could have gotten lost." She quelled the anger bubbling up. The girl was frightened enough of her as it was.

Kaitlyn bit her bottom lip and narrowed her eyebrows. She glared at Olivia. "Clearly I made a mistake in coming here." She pushed off the railing, ignoring the pain of her protesting ribs and started walking away but stopped at the top of the stairs when Olivia grabbed her by the arm to stop her. "Don't touch me!!" She screamed, as she pulled her arm out of Olivia's grasp, losing her balance as she did. Olivia reached out and pulled Kaitlyn back up by her shirt, ignoring Kaitlyn's arguments. Her grip was strong on her shirt and she half expected Kaitlyn to push Olivia away to continue walking down the stairs. What she wasn't expecting was for Kaitlyn to fling her arms around her waist, and burst in to tears.

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**Credit goes to akte81 for this chapter. She helped me quite a lot and actually wrote the part just after Mark walks out a second time up to where Kaitlyn walks into the precinct.**  
**It starts to mellow out from here. So anyone not liking Kaitlyn's treatment of Casey? Relax. She's taken a couple of midol now ;)**


	19. Chapter 18

OMG I suck! I'm sorry. I managed to get it on exactly 4 weeks later. I'm really sorry guys, this chapter a MOFO to write. I don't know why, but it really was. It turns out I don't do the breaking down bits well... eeep! But it's here, and the fic is nearly over... About another three to four to go. I'm going to try my damndest to not leave the updates for too long, I promise.

Thanks to everyone still reading, still reviewing and thank for those who have put this on their favourites!

Me no owny SVU or it's characters. They belong to Dick Wolf... the Scum! I only own, Katilyn, Maria and Mark... technically this storyline too ;)

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Olivia got over her initial shock quick enough to be able to register what the hell was going on. She wrapped her arms protectively around Kaitlyn, stroking her back. "It's okay," she whispered soothingly. "It will all be okay." 

Kaitlyn shook her head, tightening her grip around Olivia. "It's not okay!" She wailed. "It will never be okay! She was supposed to protect me!" She yelled hoarsely through her tears.

"I know," Olivia soothed, rubbing circles on her back. "I know. She was supposed to protect you and she hurt you; but it will all be okay, I promise you."

She shook her head into Olivia's shoulder. "Haven't you seen the damage I've caused??"

She pulled Kaitlyn back and looked at her. "Not that damage _you_ caused. The damage your mother has caused."

"_I'm_ the one who pushed Casey away!" She choked out. "_I'm_ the reason why my father can't deal with this! Not her; me!"

Olivia wrapped the girl in her arms again, holding her while she broke. "Come on," she said gently, walking them to the couch.

Kaitlyn curled up into the fetal position, rocking herself slightly. Olivia pulled out a chair from the table behind her and sat down opposite Kaitlyn, watching as it all finally hit her.

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Twenty long minutes later, Olivia walked down the stairs and made a cup of coffee. Elliot noticed her from his desk and walked up next to her, making a coffee for himself. After a few minutes of silence, he motioned upstairs with his head and asked, "How's she doing?"

Olivia sighed and paused, mid stir. "She's that emotionally drained that she just cried herself to sleep." She ran a hand over her face and through her long brown hair.

"You don't look too hot yourself," he deadpanned, noticing the worn expression on her face.

"Dealing with two break downs in one day can take a lot out of you." She took a mouthful of her coffee and swallowed it down, hoping that the caffeine would make her buzz.

"I can take over when she wakes up if you want?" Elliot offered.

Olivia shook her head. "I got it. Thanks El," she replied before heading back up the stairs. She sat back at the table with her coffee, occasionally taking a glance to the right to check on the sleeping girl. She took another sip of coffee and pulled out her phone to see if Casey had called; she was still asleep when she left her and didn't want to disturb her since she'd had so little of it in the past two weeks.

She heard footsteps on the stairs and directed her attention to whoever was walking up them. Elliot walked up to her and took a seat next to her. "Casey's in interview one. She's pissed off and wanting to talk to you _now_."

Olivia looked over at Kaitlyn.

"She'll be fine. I'll watch over her," he assured her, reading her mind.

Olivia glanced back at Kaitlyn again and over to Elliot before nodding her head and getting up to go downstairs to meet Casey in interview one.

Olivia barely got through the door when Casey jumped down her throat. "How dare you!" She screamed. "What the hell were you thinking Olivia? I was going out of my mind with worry over Kaitlyn walking out, and you found her and didn't tell me?" She stalked up to Olivia, her face inches away from her girlfriend's. "I woke up to a post-it note for god's sake, Olivia! You are leaving me out of the loop; Kaitlyn is _my_ niece!"

Olivia waited until she was sure Casey had finished her rant. "I left you asleep because you _needed_ it," Olivia explained calmly and softly. "She walked out on bad terms, which would have been a disaster had you tried to talk her around if you came down here instead of me." She ran her hands down Casey's arms and gripped her hands tight. "I know you're angry; I know you're upset; but I'm only thinking of you."

Casey let go of Olivia's hands and glared at her. "No you weren't, Olivia," she said icily. "If you had been thinking of me, you would have woken me up to tell me you found my niece." She shook her head and walked out of the interrogation room, heading upstairs. She stopped short when she saw Kaitlyn asleep on the couch with Elliot sitting at the table, watching over her. "How long has she been out?" She asked.

Elliot shook his head. "Not long; about thirty minutes." Pause. "Any word from your brother?" When she looked at him in confusion, he added, "Olivia filled me in."

Unsure of whether she was pissed off or touched at the amount of concern everyone was showing, she sighed. "I've left a hell of a lot of voice mails… nothing. He's beyond the point of caring, and if you're going to defend him then save your breath."  
There was an awkward silence as Elliot swallowed down his retort. It took a few beats before he broke it. "Do you want a coffee?"

Casey glared at Elliot before her expression softened; he was trying his best. "That would be great."

Downstairs, Olivia had resigned to paperwork. She was happy to give her girlfriend some space and it was clear Casey needed it. She rubbed her temples in an attempt to get rid of her impending headache. She pushed her paperwork to the side; she wasn't concentrating anyway and that was evident since it took Elliot three attempts to gain her attention.

"You okay?" He asked, placing a fresh cup of coffee in front of her, and moving her old one to the edge of the desk.

"Peachy," she droned. "How's Casey?"

Elliot shrugged. "Peachy." He handed her Casey's coffee. "She's still upstairs; that's for her."

Olivia sighed and nodded before heading up the stairs and quietly approaching her girlfriend. Casey didn't notice her until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped at the contact and turned around, her shocked expression immediately dissipating and turning into a glare.

"What?" She hissed.

Olivia held out the mug of coffee and nodded towards the table in the other corner. Casey looked back to her niece and stayed put.

Olivia started towards the other table, putting both mugs of coffee down and walked back over to Casey, standing in front of her with a look of desperation strewn across her face. "Casey, please."

Casey scowled at Olivia but stood up anyway, stalking over to the table. "What?" She spat, whirling around to face Olivia.

"Casey, I'm sorry…"

"No!" She snapped a little too loudly. She cringed as Kaitlyn flinched in her sleep. She bit her bottom lip and walked further away with Olivia following suit. "You don't get to brush this off with an apology," she growled. "What you did wasn't just unfair it was despicable and callous and I cannot believe it!"

Olivia studied Casey with intensity; there was something more than met the eye. Yes, Casey was angry – and rightfully so, but it definitely should not have sparked this big a reaction. She took hold of Casey's upper arms and when she tried to pull away, she tightened her grip. "Talk to me," she said firmly.

"Why? What good will it do?"

"More than you think," Olivia replied without missing the beat.

"We can't afford to shift the focus from her," Casey argued.

"Kaitlyn's asleep so, yeah, we can," she countered. She held Casey's hand and led them back to the table, pulling out a chair for Casey and one for herself. "It's going to be a rough ride Casey, but Kaitlyn is going to get through it and so are you."

"You don't know that Olivia. We deal with this shit every day, but we don't follow up on it. We never know what happens to the victim after a trial. We do our jobs and go home – we don't even give them a second thought afterwards." Her eyes watered over, but she kept her tears in place. "So how do you know?"

"Because you are strong and you are stubborn as hell, and Kaitlyn shares those traits with you. She's not going to sit back and let this consume her and neither will you; you won't let each other."

"For the time being. But what happens after trial when she goes back home? She just turns into all of those other victims we know nothing about." Casey sighed and drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Has she taken it back?" She asked quietly.

"I haven't had the chance to talk to her," Olivia admitted. "As soon as I walked in she was ready to run back out, so I took her arm to stop her and she launched at me."

"She hit you?" Casey asked, her eyes wide and scanning Olivia's face for any kind of markings.

"She threw her arms around me and cried…"

Casey breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god."

"I doubt she would have hit me Case," Olivia assured.

"I meant about Kaitlyn finally letting go," she said snapped back coldly. She blinked as she realized how horrible that sounded. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "That was harsh even for me."

"Don't apologize. This is the most personality I've seen you have since it happened," Olivia replied. "It's good to have you back."

Casey bowed her head and bit her bottom lip. "My thoughts have been so erratic that I can't make sense out of them," she began quietly, avoiding eye contact with Olivia. "And there are so many questions that I want to ask her… but the only one that stands out above all is _why_?" She used the backs of her hands to wipe at her tears. "Why did she do it? Why does anyone do it? To make themselves feel better about something that happened to them? How does it make them feel better?"

Olivia got up and walked over to Casey, crouching down in front of her and placing her hands on the sides of her thighs. "Baby, you know that asking those questions will just do your head in."

"It's not going to stop me from wanting answers… Or Mark."

Olivia sighed. "Has he called back?"

Casey gave a look that clarified the answer and Olivia knew to back off on the subject. The two women sat in silence for what felt like eternity, but in reality was only a mere minute.

"Liv… what if this doesn't turn out the way we want it to?" She asked evenly, finding her knees rather interesting.

Olivia took a deep breath. "Let's take it a day at a time, and cross that bridge when and if we come to it."

Casey finally looked at Olivia and smirked. "So you don't know either."

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Errr yeah. So kind of an awkward place to leave it, but it works. Don't you think it works?

I apologise for any errors in the above document. It is 3.15am and I am super tired. But I hope this chapter met your standards. I wanted to have some CO in here since you know... it IS a CO fic and there hasn't been a lot of the CO (for all the obvious reasons). Yes Casey has still got her walls up, she's consumed in anger, but she's slowly bringing them down. Hell if Kaitlyn can do it, so can Casey.

And also? Mark is not a complete deadbeat. He will be making an appearance so keep an eye out... wow this is long.

REVIEW!!!


	20. Chapter 19

**Happy New Year everyone! Let's start the New Year off with a new chapter of Close To Home! It's shorter than the others, but I feel it is a good place to end it before I dive into the court scenes. They will be harder to write, so they will take a while to post, but I promise to work REALLY hard on it!  
Hope everyone's Christmas and New Year was good :)**

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When Kaitlyn woke up two hours later, she woke up with a start. She did not recognize her surroundings, which added to her growing panic. She sat up quickly and when her ribs screamed at her in protest, she remembered exactly what was going on. She hissed and wrapped her arms around herself, catching Olivia's attention. She rushed to Kaitlyn's side and put a hand on her back, rubbing circles to soothe her, unsurprised when Kaitlyn jumped.

"It's okay sweetie…"

"No," she wailed. "My ribs." Her face was scrunched up in pain and she was doubled over.

"Okay you need to sit up, Kaitlyn," Olivia said. When Kaitlyn didn't move she walked behind the couch and took hold of her shoulders, guiding her. "Come on honey, it'll help."

"I can't," she let out between her teeth.

Olivia slowly sat her up and resumed her seat opposite her. She noticed her breathing was ragged and she got up to walk down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Kaitlyn all but yelled.

"I'm just getting you some water." She waited for a response from Kaitlyn and when she was certain there was nothing to follow, she continued down the stairs. She filled a cup up with water and stopped by Elliot's desk. "El is Casey still in the crib?"

"Last I checked she was. I haven't seen her walk out, why what's wrong?"

Olivia shook her head. "Nothing's wrong. Kaitlyn just woke up."

"I'll go and wake up Casey then…"

"Thanks," she said with a smile and without waiting for anything further from Elliot, she walked back up the stairs and handed Kaitlyn the cup of water before resuming her seat. She watched as Kaitlyn drank it greedily. "How are your ribs?"

"Over their bitch fit for now," she mumbled. She opened her mouth and closed it again, debating saying anything further. She tapped her fingers on the mug a few times before finally looking up at the brunette. "Thank you."

Olivia smiled at her. "It's okay."

Kaitlyn licked her lips and bowed her head, turning a shade of red. "I'm not talking about the water…"

Olivia nodded her head. "I know."

A few beats of awkward silence passed between them. Kaitlyn tapped the mug a few more times before setting it off to the side on the couch she was on. She looked at her hands and picked at her cuticles.

They both breathed a sigh of relief when Casey finally made her way up the stairs, looking exhausted and pale. She pulled out a chair and sat next to Olivia, not entirely sure if Kaitlyn would be okay with sitting next to her.

"Did you want to take this into an interview room?" Olivia asked Kaitlyn.

"No!" She answered quickly. She caught herself and started again. "Sorry. No. I've seen the insides of that room more times than I'd care to count. A change of scenery would be good," she mumbled, looking at her hands.

"I think it might be better if we went into a room; there's more privacy," Casey said.

"I don't want to go into an interview room," Kaitlyn ground out through her teeth.

The women had been pulled into an awkward silence like they had so many times in the past week. It was so frequent that it was not even awkward anymore. It was just silence. With Kaitlyn looking anywhere but at Olivia and Casey and feeling their eyes boring holes into her body, she gained enough of her wits to be able to look up at them and say, "Can we just move this along?"

Snapping both of them back to reality, Olivia nodded her head. "I'll just get a pen and some paper." She got up without waiting for a response from either Novak and walked down the stairs to get said paper and pen, taking her time since she knew they had issues to talk out and resolve. She took a glance upstairs and sighed in relief as she saw the two of them talking; hopefully about what they needed to be talking about, and not making small talk.

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"I'm sorry," Casey began softly. She got up from the chair and moved to the couch, resting her hand on her forearm. "I am so sorry."

Kaitlyn licked her lips and let Casey's words sink in before responding. She looked up at her aunt slowly. "You don't need to apologize; it was justifiable," she mumbled. "I have been a pain in the ass this last week and I have frustrated you, not to mention detective Benson, past the point of return." Her gaze hardened for a moment, before she continued. "While it was possibly the dumbest thing you could have ever said to me… I don't imagine I would have said anything different if the roles had been reversed somehow."

"That doesn't excuse it," Casey muttered.

"Well I'm telling you it does," she snapped. She sighed and inwardly cursed herself. Casey was trying to make amends, and Kaitlyn was still quick to snap. She ran her free hand through her hair. "Look, you're always telling me not to dwell. So now I'm telling you. Just let it go, okay? Please?"

"Okay…"

Kaitlyn nodded her head and sighed as she saw Olivia walk up the stairs wearing a sympathetic look on her face. She tried hard to keep herself from glaring and instead, stood up and moved to the table holding her hand out for the pen and paper. When Olivia handed them over, she automatically started writing.

"Do you know what you're writing down?" Olivia asked carefully.

"A recant of my recant and why I recanted in the first place," she replied.

Olivia nodded her head. "Well you seem to know what you're doing, so I'll leave you to it." She glanced at Casey and nodded her head downstairs. "Call out when you're done." She stood up and waited for Casey to follow suit, before heading down the stairs.

When they reached Olivia's desk, Casey sat perched on the edge of it, looking up the stairs, while Olivia sat on the leather chair. She gave Casey a few minutes before she laid a hand on her lower back and asked, "How did it go?"

"Not as bad as I thought it was going to be," she replied, still watching her niece scribble on the pad of paper.

Olivia nodded her head, though it wasn't to be seen. "It was a quick conversation," she noted.

"I don't think we're ready to bring on the hugs, but I apologized and she accepted it in not so many words."

"Meaning?"

Casey turned to look at Olivia. "Meaning it's over and done with."

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"Shouldn't you be writing instead of drawing?" Elliot asked gently as he approached Kaitlyn from behind.

"Should be," Kaitlyn responded without turning around.

Elliot sat down across from the brunette and watched her for a few minutes before saying, "So why aren't you?"

Kaitlyn's eyebrows narrowed and she bit her, now stitch-free, bottom lip, careful not to disturb the healing wound. She sighed. "I have dug myself into a pretty deep hole here, Elliot." She looked up at him, exhausted. "Is there really any point to it? To going to trial?"

"Of course there is," he nearly spat in response.

"I have screwed things up… For _everybody_!" She snapped. "When this gets taken to trial, all the jury is going to care about is the fact that I couldn't keep my story straight and they're going to set her free!" She sighed and rubbed at her eyes. "All because I couldn't face the fucking facts…" she added quietly.

Elliot leaned on the table, his nose inches from hers. "It doesn't mean you give up. You give up? She wins."

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**Clicky the button :)  
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	21. Chapter 20

**I take no responsibility for how late this chapter is! Between work and... well work, I've had no time... Plus I did mention in the last chapter that these next few with the court scenes would take a while. If there are any mistakes, my apologies, I am posting this right before I get petrol/gas for my car and go to work and I need to be fairly quick, but I didn't want you guys (if anyone is still interested in this fic) to wait any longer.**

**I own Kaitlyn, Maria and Mark... Technically this story line. If I owned SVU... Well a lot of changes would be made... Maybe if i save enough money I can make a deal with Dick Wolf... Heh. **

**Happy reading :) **

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Trevor Langan paced the court room in front of Kaitlyn with his hands behind his back. Opening statements had just been made and he was now up to question Kaitlyn. He stopped pacing and leaned on the desk, his arms folded over his chest.

"Kaitlyn," he began. "How old are you?"

The brunette's eyebrows narrowed and she resisted the urge to steal a glance at Alex. She was told she'd be unprepared for the defense's questions and not to expect anything. "Nineteen," she responded, flippantly.

Trevor nodded his head. "Do you know the difference between the truth and a lie?"

"She's clearly swearable, councilor," Judge Lena Petrovsky got in before either Alex or Kaitlyn could; confused as to where he was going with this.

Trevor threw his hands up and walked towards the judge. "I only ask because she recanted."

Petrovsky looked from Trevor to Kaitlyn, to Alex then Casey, and back again. "Is this true?" She asked looking at Kaitlyn for an answer.

She nodded her head. "Yes."

"Then why are we here?" She demanded, glancing at Alex.

"Because I took it back."

"Why did you recant in the first place?" Trevor asked forcibly.

"I was scared!"

"Are you sure you didn't feel guilty for wrongfully accusing your own mother of sexual abuse?"

"Objection!" Alex cut in.

Petrovsky nodded her head. "Sustained," she said immediately.

Trevor licked his lips and smirked. "Is it true you're having issues with your sexuality?"

"Objection: relevance!" Alex let out incredulously, glaring at Trevor's back.

"I am confused about my sexuality, but if I wanted to experiment I sure as hell wouldn't do it with my own mother!" Kaitlyn snapped, not too dazed that she didn't know where he was heading with his line of questioning.

Petrovsky banged her gavel and the court room was silenced immediately. She looked at Kaitlyn and then at the jury. "The jury is to disregard the last question and the answer that followed." She then looked up at Trevor. "Watch your step Mr. Langan."

"Yes your honour." He looked behind him and took a sip of his water before slowly walking towards Kaitlyn. "You said that you'd been abused for the last two years, correct?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you come forward before last week?"

"Talking about it would have made it real and I wasn't ready to accept that."

"And last week you woke up and decided you were ready?"

"Last week my mother raped me!"

"Your honour?"

"He goaded her, your honour," Alex cut in standing up.

"I was merely asking a question –"

"No you weren't. You want to badger the victim until she breaks on the stand!"

"Counsel approach," Petrovsky ordered.

Trevor and Alex looked at each other before approaching the bench; Alex felt shivers run down her spine as Petrovsky glared at them both and covered the microphone. "I will not stand for child-like behaviour in my courtroom counselors. Another outburst like that from either one of you and I'll find you both in contempt of court. Step back."

Alex walked back to her desk, and Trevor resumed his position by the jurors; both with their tails between their legs. "Why did you choose to come to New York?"

"I didn't want to stay in Jersey."

"Why did you wait twelve hours after the fact?"

"After being raped with a baseball bat, I couldn't move. I waited until I got feeling back in my limbs, realized I couldn't stay and I forced myself up and into my car and drove to New York."

"Where you drove to the precinct and told the police you had been raped?"

"I got into a car accident on the way, so my first stop was the hospital."

"So how did detectives Benson and Stabler become involved?" He asked.

"The doctor who treated me called them and told them she thought I had been abused."

"Where was it that you were headed?"

"To my aunt's apartment."

"Who is your aunt?"

Kaitlyn looked at him quizzically but responded anyway. "Casey Novak."

"Why wouldn't you have gone to the police first?"

"I needed to see a familiar face."

"Before going to the precinct…"

"My intention was not to go to the precinct at all," she said quietly.

"Why not?"

"Telling someone that your mother raped you isn't exactly a conversation starter," she bit.

"So your plan wasn't to tell anyone about the alleged rape at all, was it?"

"Objection!"

"The rape can only be assumed since Miss Novak did in fact recant and tell detective Stabler that her wounds were self inflicted," he stated smugly.

"I have the doctor who treated her outside waiting to be called in as my witness who will testify that those wounds couldn't possibly have been self inflicted," Alex shot back.

"Objection sustained."

Trevor sighed. "Nothing further."

Petrovsky nodded her head. "We're in recess. Court will resume in ten minutes." She banged her gavel.

--------

Casey paced in front of the group, barely registering anything Alex was saying. Trevor was really going after Kaitlyn and she wanted to rip him to shreds. It took every ounce of strength to stay where she was when Trevor and Maria walked out of the courtroom. Just to be safe, though, Olivia wrapped a protective arm around her; both for support and to make sure she wasn't going anywhere.

"It's going okay though, right?" Elliot's voice cut into Casey's thoughts.

Alex nodded her head. "It's going okay. It's still early on in the trial," she rationalized, "but so far it's going okay." She turned her attention to Kaitlyn and her eyebrows narrowed when she was no where in sight. "Where's Kaitlyn?"

Casey's eyebrows shot up and everyone scanned the area.

"She realizes that she has to be back in ten minutes, right?" Alex asked.

"She wouldn't have run," Olivia replied.

"She's got a great track record of staying put, though, wouldn't you say?" Trevor's voice cut in.

Olivia felt Casey pull out of her arms with a growl and she moved lightening fast in keeping her down, walking her away but not before glaring at Trevor.

He chuckled.

"Keep it up and I'll wipe that smirk right off that smug little face of yours, Langan," Elliot threatened, standing nose to nose with him.

"I wish you would. In a room full of lawyers and judges, you'd have no chance…"

"Elliot go and look for Kaitlyn in the courtroom, _now_," Alex ordered. Elliot stayed where he was for a few beats, squaring off with Trevor before finally moving away and doing as he was told.

"You sure have the SVU squad whipped…"

"Slither away, jerk."

Trevor raised an eyebrow. "Surely a woman of your caliber can come up with something better than that."

"Doesn't your client need you to tell her how to properly lie on the stand?"

"My client is well versed on what she needs to say… and it's the truth by the way."

"Keep telling yourself that, Trevor."

He smirked. "Save yourself the embarrassment of losing and plead her out."

"Not a chance."

"When you lose… and you _will_ lose. Don't say I didn't warn you," he said smugly before walking away.

Alex shook her head and rolled her eyes. _Pompous ass_, she thought to herself before walking up to Elliot, Casey and Olivia. "Did you find her?"

Casey and Olivia shook their heads.

"No," Elliot answered.

Alex quickly scanned the area again; her eyes falling on the restrooms. "Did anyone check the bathrooms?"

When nothing but blank faces stared back at her, Casey, Alex and Olivia split up into bathrooms at different ends of the courthouse, with Elliot waiting by the doors of the courtroom, eyeballing Trevor Langan.

--------

Alex pushed open the door slowly and let out her breath when she saw Kaitlyn standing in front of the sinks, looking at herself in the mirror; her face dripping wet. She turned her head sharply to see who had just entered the bathroom, ignoring the pain of the nerve she just pinched. She licked her lips and relaxed, turning her head back to the mirror, and leaning on the basin.

"Do we need to go back?" She asked quietly, not looking at Alex.

"No, not yet." She walked further into the bathroom and stood next to Kaitlyn, facing her. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "Those nerves that I didn't have on the way in? They came up ten fold… Do you have a breath mint?" She asked, finally looking at the blonde.

"Uh… not with me, no. Sorry."

"It's okay. I'm sure Casey has some." She turned back to the mirror and studied her face. No bruises and no wounds… just the scars. She lightly traced them with her left hand and shivered.

"You did great in there," Alex assured her.

Kaitlyn shrugged. "I just want my part to be over…"

"It is. All you have to do now is just sit and watch everything else unfold," she responded, resting a hand on her shoulder.

Kaitlyn took a little step backwards, still slightly uncomfortable with being with the blonde alone. "But I don't have to right? It's completely up to me?"

She nodded her head. "It's completely up to you."

Kaitlyn sighed and looked at her watch. "We should get back."

Alex looked at her own watch and nodded her head, walking towards the door and opening it for Kaitlyn to walk out first, following behind her.

When Casey saw her niece walking towards her, she relaxed into Olivia's embrace and let out a sigh. She ran her hands over her face and waited until they approached.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Kaitlyn nodded her head immediately. "Fine," she lied, taking a side glace at Alex silently begging her not to say anything. "Got a breath mint handy?"

Casey let the lie slide and searched her bag for a breath mint or chewing gum. She found some mints and offered them to her niece. Kaitlyn took two of them and chewed them to pieces.

"Everyone's heading in," Olivia noted.

Alex and Casey both looked to Kaitlyn. "It's your choice," Alex reminded her.

Kaitlyn nodded her head and drew in a breath. "We're going to be late." She started towards the courtroom with Casey, Olivia, Alex and Elliot following behind.

--------

"I call Doctor Chelsea Bryant to the stand."

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**Yep, I suck hehehehe :P**

**I couldn't help myself, I had to have a war of the words between Alex and Trevor lol. If anything is wrong in the court scenes or even the battle of wits... just let me know in a review and... well I'll just steer clear of it in the future ;)**

**Keep those reviews coming people! Hit the button!! **


	22. Chapter 21

**I figure I'm just going to stop apologising about how late I'm posting these chapters. I don't do this on purpose, I've just been working a LOT lately - it sucks, but I gotta earn my money somehow.  
I made this chapter a bit longer than my other ones in hopes of forgiveness, and with only a couple of chapters left, I'm hoping to have them up soon, but I won't make any promises. To anyone still following this story, a big thank you!  
If it's any consolation? It's 4.15am. I've been writing since I got home from work at 9.30pm in hopes that I would get this chapter up. Took me a while, but hey, here it is :) Enjoy and review!**_  
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"Court will reconvene tomorrow morning at nine." Petrovsky banged her gavel and everyone walked out of the courtroom to face yet another long evening. Once out of the courthouse, Kaitlyn looked up at her aunt and her father.

"You know… I was thinking," she started. "I don't think I want to be there tomorrow…"

"It's okay sweetheart, you don't have to be there," Mark assured. When he moved to put a hand on her shoulder, she dodged it and moved towards Casey but regretted doing so when she saw the hurt look on his face.

Kaitlyn knew that her father was coming today. It took him a couple of weeks and a very persuasive Elliot to pull his head in but he eventually came around and put his issues aside long enough to be able to be there for his daughter. However, Casey thought it was two weeks too late and was none too pleased to see him show up and act like nothing had happened.

Casey caught her niece's eyes. "You don't have to be there," she began.

"But…"

"_But_, hearing the verdict firsthand is different to hearing it from someone else. You get a different feeling, like a weight's been lifted."

"Yeah if it's the verdict you want," she argued.

"Even if it's not. Alex talked you through that remember? Even if she's found innocent, you've still faced her and put a label on her that will haunt her and stick with her forever. You've gained the upper hand."

Kaitlyn sighed. "Can I sleep on it?" She asked quietly.

Casey smiled. "Of course."

Kaitlyn nodded her head and eyed a taxi. She started down the steps to stop it and got in to go back to Casey's apartment waiting for her father and aunt.

"You've certainly got a handle on her," Mark said quietly as they walked down the steps of the courthouse.

Casey couldn't let it slide. "Yeah. It happens when you stick around and support her. She learnt that she could count on me and opened up again," she spat.

"I deserved that."

Casey stopped and turned to face her brother abruptly. "And so much more!" She hissed. "How dare you walk out on your daughter and then show up weeks later as if nothing happened. She _needed_ you Mark. She may not have wanted you but she needed you. To support her, to annoy and irritate her by never going away and asking if she was okay every minute of every day. To do all the things that I did because you were too self-absorbed to stick around and do it yourself!"

"Did it ever occur to you, Casey, that I was scared?"

"Yeah?" Casey asked. "So was I! I was fucking petrified; still am! So imagine what it is like for Kaitlyn and magnify that by an infinite number. This is _not_ about us, Mark. It is about Kaitlyn. So you need to wake up and grow up other wise she will shut you out, which she is already in the middle of doing." With nothing more to add to that, she stalked off following Kaitlyn into the waiting cab.

"You didn't have to yell at him…" Kaitlyn mumbled.

The red head sighed. "I'm sorry, but I'm still really angry at him and I'm surprised you're not."

"I am."

Mark slowly walked up to the cab and bent down, looking past Casey and at his daughter. "I'm going to head back to the hotel and freshen up. I was thinking maybe I could take you to dinner tonight?" He asked hopefully.

"I'm not really hungry."

"You really should eat…"

"Well when I'm hungry, I'll let you know." Turning her gaze on to her aunt to avoid the hurt on her father's face again, she said, "I'm exhausted. Can we go?"

Mark sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow morning then."

"Yeah."

--------

"Do you think I was too harsh?" Kaitlyn asked when they got back into the apartment. The taxi ride was long, silent and awkward. Kaitlyn felt claustrophobic by it all and was more than relieved when the taxi came to a stop outside of Casey's apartment.

"Weren't you telling me how angry you were at your father?" Casey replied, slipping her shoes off and throwing her keys on the bench.

"That was you. I merely agreed…"

Casey paused and looked over at her niece. She walked over to her slowly, stopping in front of her and catching her eyes. "It's okay to be angry."

"I know that… I just… If it's okay, why do I feel guilty for treating him the way that I did?"

"Because you have a conscience. You're pissed at him for how he has behaved but he's your father and you know that on some level, it's not okay to treat him like that…"

Kaitlyn sighed. She nodded her head and slipped off into the spare bedroom, closing the door behind her, wanting to be left alone with her thoughts about the day's events.

This had become a ritual with her niece after court let out. Usually she let her go, undisturbed. Today, Casey followed after her and knocked on the bedroom door. Once being invited in, she opened the door and walked in, sitting on the edge of the bed where her niece was laying on her back.

"Talk to me," Casey said gently.

Kaitlyn looked up, confused. "I thought that's what I just did?"

"I mean about how you feel after court."

Kaitlyn raised a brow; this was new. She was torn. She wanted to open up to her aunt and let her know exactly how she felt but, at the same time, she just wanted to keep those thoughts to herself – after all, she had yet to reflect on her thoughts about today's session in court. "I haven't really thought about it myself yet."

"You must have some thought and feeling though. You told us you didn't want to be there tomorrow…"

Kaitlyn licked her lips and sat up slowly. "I'm scared," she mumbled, unable to look Casey in the eye. "I'm scared about the verdict and I don't want her face haunting me when it's read out; guilty or innocent. That's why I don't want to be there tomorrow."

Casey nodded her head and gave her niece a small smile. "I'll call you tomorrow when court lets out and tell you the verdict," she said gently. She took Kaitlyn's hand in her own and gave it a soft squeeze. "Get some rest; it's been a wild month." When Kaitlyn nodded her head, Casey stood up and walked to the door.

"Casey," Kaitlyn called out. She waited for her aunt to turn around. "Thanks… For everything…"

Casey smiled and walked back over to her niece, wrapping her arms around her for the first time in the month and a half that she had been in New York. She felt her tense. Just as she was about to let her go, she felt Kaitlyn's arms wrap around her and return the hug, feeling her relax.

"Everything will be okay, Kaitlyn."

She just nodded her head and slowly let Casey go. "I'll see you in the morning, Case."

"Yeah. Goodnight."

"Night."

--------

Olivia put the key in the lock and turned it quietly. It was three thirty in the morning and she was tired. She surprised herself when she was able to successfully turn the lock without making a sound. The celebration barely lasted when she jumped into the door, slamming it shut as she saw Kaitlyn sitting at the table with a mug of something in her hands. She cringed at the sound and checked to see if Casey's door was shut – it was.

She quietly made her way over to the table and sat down at the opposite end, propping her foot up on the chair.

"Aren't you supposed to be a tough New York cop?" Kaitlyn asked with a slight smirk.

"Doesn't mean I still can't be startled," she replied with a smirk of her own. "Why aren't you asleep?" She asked after a couple of beats.

Kaitlyn shrugged. "Sleep is overrated. I'll sleep when I'm dead," she said monotonously with a shrug of her shoulders. She took a mouthful of her coffee and stood up, walking into the kitchen. "Are you always back this late?"

Olivia smiled lightly. "Not always," she answered.

"But a lot of the time, yes," she concluded, coming back out and placing a mug of coffee in front of Olivia.

She nodded her head. "I'm sorry I missed the trial today…"

Kaitlyn scoffed and shook her head. "You didn't miss much. A bunch of questions and answers; waterworks, a lot of objections… You know how it goes," she said with a shrug.

"True." She tapped her fingers on the mug, debating asking the question in her head – her curiosity won. "Did your dad show up?"

Kaitlyn nodded her head. "Yep," she said slowly, not looking at Olivia. "He took a seat right next to us like everything was fine. He even grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze when she was on the stand, lying her ass off." Venom dripped off of her words.

"Did you talk to him?"

Kaitlyn sighed. "Every time I opened my mouth I just seemed to snap at him."

"The anger will subside eventually, but you have every right to be angry at him."

"Yeah I know, Casey gave me that same speech when we got back…"

Olivia shook her head. "It's not a speech, Kaitlyn."

"You know what I mean. Casey's already told me that, but it doesn't make the guilt go away," she said quietly.

"You have nothing to feel guilty for."

Kaitlyn sighed. "Let's change the subject before I slip into a total sense of déjà vu. This isn't a conversation I'd like to revisit in less than twelve hours…"

"Putting your walls up again," Olivia noted with a smirk. "Is that a Novak thing?"

"I'm probably the worst offender, but yes it _is_ a Novak thing and it's not to be taken personal. It's just that sometimes it's all we know how to do when we don't know how to deal…"

"Then it comes to the foreground –"

"And you get a reenactment of what happened at the precinct the other week," Kaitlyn finished, taking a mouthful of her coffee.

"How did Casey react to your father showing up?"

"She held it together until we got outside." When Olivia's eyebrows shot up in question, she elaborated as best she could. "I kind of took off down the stairs to get a taxi. Dad must have said something to set her off because when I looked behind me to see if they were there, they were still on the steps. I couldn't hear what it was she was saying, but I could hear her voice."

"Did you say anything to her when she got into the cab?"

Kaitlyn shook her head. "Not much. Dad followed soon after and started talking and all feeling of wanting to defend him disappeared."

"Give it time. The anger you're feeling will fade away; you'll end up forgiving him."

"Forgiven, but not forgotten though, right?" Kaitlyn asked; a quick smirk appearing on her lips before it disappeared.

"What are you two doing still awake?" A groggy voice asked. Kaitlyn jumped and lifted her head to see Casey standing in the doorway of her bedroom, arms crossed loosely over her chest.

Kaitlyn and Olivia looked at each other, each waiting for the other to speak. It was Kaitlyn who spoke first. "Couldn't sleep. Didn't try actually. Not tired."

Olivia stood up and walked over to her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around her waist. "I just got home. Did we wake you?" She asked.

Casey shook her head. "No. I turned over and couldn't feel you. Then I heard mumbles and I got up to tell Kaitlyn to turn the television down… low and behold there you were," she said with a smirk.

Olivia chuckled and gave her a light kiss on the lips. "Go back to bed, I'll be in soon."

Casey nodded her head sleepily. "Night guys." Without waiting for a response, she turned around and walked back into her bedroom, and into bed. Olivia shut the door after Casey and walked back to the table.

Kaitlyn smiled lightly; her first real smile in the month she had been in New York. "Don't let me keep you up."

"You're not…"

"I'm kind of tired anyway, and you've got an early start tomorrow no doubt. Poor Casey's barely seen you since she's gone back to work and I'm not helping any by keeping you up for a deep and meaningful at," she paused to check her watch, "a quarter past four in the morning." At Olivia's skeptical look, she added, "It's okay. Get some sleep. I'm sure I'll be seeing you at the same time, same place tomorrow morning and we can pick it up from there."

"You're sure? Because if you want to talk some more –"

"I'm positive. I just told you; same time same place tomorrow morning, guaranteed."

Olivia searched Kaitlyn's face for any signs of a lie; that somewhere inside she really wanted Olivia to stay behind to talk some more. She saw nothing. So, reluctantly, she nodded her head in agreement. "Okay. You should get some sleep too. Don't you have to be up for court in the morning?"

"I'm not going."

"Why not?"

"I'm not sure I could handle it."

"You're a strong girl. You're more than capable to handle it," she said with a smile. She picked up her mug and put it in the sink, walking back out and into the bedroom. "Good night Kaitlyn."

"Good night Olivia," she replied, letting the older woman's first name slip out with ease.

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**Yay for progress between Kaitlyn and Olivia!  
Like it? Hate it? Let me know. In the meantime, I'm going to bed!**


	23. Chapter 22

**I know. I know. 2 months is a VERY long time to leave an update. The fic is nearing an end, and instead of getting easier to write, it's just getting REALLY hard and to be honest? I'm looking forward to its end. I tired to make this chapter longer, but I didn't want to bore you guys. I've been reading fics where the chapters go on forEVER, and eventually I just skim through the chapter. So I tried to make it longer, without over doing it.  
Enjoy readers (if I have any left?)**

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Kaitlyn's alarm on her cell phone went off at 8am, but Kaitlyn was already awake. She'd been awake for the last hour trying to decide whether or not she was actually going to go to court today to hear the verdict. She'd had a hard time trying to pin point exactly what it was that Olivia said that made her want to change her mind but after ten minutes of replaying their conversation and getting nothing, she gave up on thinking about it.

With a sigh, she eased herself off the bed and took off the shorts and shirt she had slept in the night before and into a pair of black jeans and a red button down shirt. She had to admit, Casey had some taste. She hadn't wanted to go shopping for clothes; so while Casey shopped for her niece, Kaitlyn stayed in the apartment catching up on as much sleep as she could. She had remembered telling Casey not to go overboard and remembered groaning and whining when her aunt came back with more clothes than necessary.

Five minutes later, the buttons to her shirt were still undone and she grunted in defeat. She walked over to the door and opened it, sticking her head out in the hopes of finding her aunt somewhere in the lounge room or at the table. No such luck. Holding her shirt together, Kaitlyn slowly trudged out into the apartment and checked the kitchen, then the bathroom where she found her aunt brushing her teeth.

When she saw a figure from the corner of her eye, she rinsed her mouth out and put her tooth brush down, turning to the person in the doorway. She saw the defeated look on Kaitlyn's face and wordlessly walked over to her, doing up her buttons wondering why she chose to wear the button down in the first place and why she was even awake when she wasn't planning on going to court.

When she was done with the buttons of the shirt, she grabbed the hair brush off the bench and brushed Kaitlyn's hair before pulling it into a neat braid. She caught her eyes in the mirror.

"I…" she shrugged and lowered her eyes.

"It's okay to change your mind," Casey assured.

Kaitlyn sighed and nodded her head. "I just want it over," she said quietly.

"Today is the last day you will ever have to deal with this. After today you can start to move on and heal."

"Can I move on and heal in New York?" She asked, looking at Casey through the mirror.

Casey blinked and stopped braiding Kaitlyn's hair.

"It wouldn't be forever… just for a little while… maybe," she mumbled. When Casey hesitated, Kaitlyn sighed and walked away from Casey, in to the lounge room with Casey hot on her heels.

"Sweetie there are other people to consider; Olivia, your dad –"

"I wouldn't be a pain in the ass, I swear," she argued. "I just can't be in that house Casey…"

The redhead felt her heart break; she had not thought of that. Could she really force her niece back into the same house that her mother raped her in?

"I'll talk about it with Olivia and then we'll tackle your dad," she said with a slight nod, pulling her niece's hair back and restarting the braid.

--

The cab slowed to a stop just outside of the courthouse, holding both Casey and Kaitlyn inside; a scene played out so many times before, Kaitlyn was sure she could walk there with her eyes closed.

Watching as people scurried in and out of the building, the younger Novak's coffee coloured orbs fell on to a mass of brown hair and tan skin.

"Olivia's here," she said out loud, confused; wasn't she supposed to be on the job today?

"Olivia?" Casey questioned both her niece's use of the detective's first name and the fact that Olivia was indeed here. "Come on." She waited for Kaitlyn to start walking first before following after her and walking up to Olivia.

The detective gave a start when she felt a hand on her shoulder and spun around, releasing a breath when she saw Casey and Kaitlyn standing there.

"I'm starting to think that maybe I just assumed you were tough," Kaitlyn said with a smirk.

Olivia rolled her eyes with a smirk of her own at the remark. "I'm glad you changed your mind about coming today…"

"Yeah well you have a way with words. When I weighed my options, I decided that this was one more game to her. If I decided to stay away she'd win. I don't want her to think she has one up on me if she goes away."

--

"On the count of first degree aggravated sexual assault and battery how does the jury find?" Judge Petrovsky asked, eyeing the jury.

"Guilty," the foreman announced without hesitation.

Maria's mouth dropped open in shock and she turned her head sharply to glare at her daughter who was glaring back at her. When Casey crossed her arms over her chest and set her steely gaze on her sister in law, Maria turned her head back.

Judge Petrovsky banged her gavel. "The defendant will remain in custody until sentencing. Bailiff, remove Mrs. Novak from the court."

Kaitlyn stayed glued to her seat until the bailiff walked Maria out of the room. She shot up from her seat and walked out with Casey on her heels. When she caught up with her niece, she was leaning against a pillar. "Sweetie what's wrong?" She asked softly.

Kaitlyn shook her head. "I had to get out. The vibe in there was enough to make me sick."

Casey stroked Kaitlyn's hair with a small smile. "Well it's over now. You don't have to worry about it anymore…"

Kaitlyn sighed and nodded her head, eyeing the detective, the ADA and her father as they made their way over to them.

"Everything okay?" Mark asked when he reached his daughter and sister.

"Everything's fine, dad. Just feel a little sick, that's all."

"It's okay. I'll get you home and you can put this all behind you."

Kaitlyn licked her lips and stared at the floor. "Yeah."

"When's sentencing?" Casey asked Alex, hoping to overwrite the awkward silence.

"Next week," the blonde replied.

"Thank you. For everything you've done."

Alex let a small smile spread across her lips, still awkward with the redhead. "You're welcome." With a nod to the group, Alex walked out of the courthouse; the four of them following soon after; Olivia back to work and Casey, Kaitlyn and Mark heading to a small café for a late lunch.

"I was thinking maybe after lunch you might want to head back home," Mark suggested.

Kaitlyn looked up from her hardly touched food and glanced at Casey quickly before turning her attention toward her father. "So soon? She hasn't even been sentenced yet…"

Mark raised a brow. "Are you going to want to sit in the courtroom and listen to how long she's being sentenced?"

"Well… No, but –"

"So it's nothing that Casey can't tell us over the phone. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can put this all behind us."

"Driving back to the very house I was raped in is not what I call 'putting it all behind us', dad!" Kaitlyn snapped, catching the attention of some of the diners nearby who turned their heads in shock and disgust.

"I'm sorry," Mark said after a few beats. He looked to Casey and then back to his daughter. "I don't know what to do here…"

"So maybe I should just stay in New York with Casey and Olivia," she mumbled, half expecting her father not to hear her.

"What?" She was wrong.

"I just think it's a better option," she explained vaguely.

"And I don't think this is something we should discuss here," Casey added. "So since we seem to be finished, let's continue this at my apartment?"

"There's nothing to discuss," Mark said dismissively. "You're not staying here."

"Why not?" She asked, her eyebrows narrowing in frustration.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight," he hissed.

"You didn't seem to have a problem with that a month ago when _you_ pulled the disappearing act," she retorted.

Mark felt guilt ripple through his body and bowed his head, keeping quiet.

Always the mediator growing up, Casey stepped in. "I really think we should continue this at my place."

Letting out an agitated sigh, Mark stood up first and took care of the meal while Kaitlyn and Casey waited outside to hail a taxi.

Twenty awkward minutes later, they arrived at Casey's apartment settling at the dining room table, trying to keep civil. Kaitlyn had a foot propped up on the chair, drumming her fingers on the table anxiously; Mark eventually couldn't sit still any longer and stood up to begin pacing back and forth, while Casey watched the two of them worriedly. "It might not be such a bad idea to let her stay here," Casey said quietly.

Mark stopped abruptly and turned to his sister. "You're supposed to be helping me bring her back home. Not helping her to convince me to let her stay," Mark replied through his teeth.

"You can't expect me to go back there so soon or at all!"

"She's right, Mark," Casey agreed. "It's cruel and unusual punishment. She's not asking to live in New York forever; she just isn't ready to go back home."

"So we'll pack up and move –"

"You shouldn't have to start over. I'm not asking that of you. But _I_ do. I want to start over, I _need_ to start over."

"It isn't just up to Casey," Mark tried, sitting down next to Kaitlyn, opposite Casey.

"I'll work on Olivia," Casey countered. "She'll understand."

Mark sighed and nodded his head. He knew that he couldn't make Kaitlyn return home with him but, by the same token, he didn't want to abandon her – regardless of the fact that she was the one pushing him out the door.

"I guess it's settled then."

"Yeah," Kaitlyn agreed softly.

--

After trying and failing to sleep, Kaitlyn finally gave up and tossed the covers off of herself and sat up. Her stomach growled and she realized that maybe she shouldn't have skipped dinner. After telling her brother to go home and shower, Casey started preparing dinner – with a little help from the phone and the handy Chinese take-out place just around the block. By the time Mark came back, the dinner was on the plate and Mark was none the wiser.

They ate, spoke more about the move, and spoke about when Mark would leave and when Kaitlyn would go to collect a few of her things. He was having a rough time letting it go, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that both his daughter and his sister were right. He also knew that when Kaitlyn's mind was made up, there was no changing it and there was no use in trying. He still wasn't comfortable with leaving Kaitlyn behind, but in the end, it wasn't up to him.

Making her way to the refrigerator, Kaitlyn pulled out her order of honey chicken and stuffed it into the microwave, smiling to herself over the fact that her ribs barely hurt anymore; only when she over reached or bent down too far. She heard the door to the apartment open and then close and she instantly looked at the digital clock on the stove; two thirty-five. It made her reevaluate her dinner plans… but damn she was hungry.

"Skip dinner?" Olivia asked from the entrance of the kitchen, leaning against the wall.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Kaitlyn replied without missing the beat. She turned around to face Olivia. "You're early." At Olivia's quizzical look, she smirked and explained. "Remember last night? The whole same time, same place thing?"

Recognition crossed the detective's features and she returned the smirk. "I got through my paper work early enough that my captain let me go."

Kaitlyn nodded and tilted the Chinese container to Olivia. "Honey chicken?"

"No thanks. I stay on a liquid diet after midnight…"

"I'm fairly certain that coffee doesn't count as being part of a 'liquid diet', but fair enough. There are plenty of leftovers if you want some anyways."

"I'm good."

The young woman nodded her head again and started off towards the table to eat her meal.

Olivia watched her carefully; there was something off in her demeanor this morning and it was magnified when she sat down. She chose the corner chair, and drew her legs up as best she could without causing any discomfort. She took little bites and ate slowly, her eyes never leaving the container.

_One step forward, two steps back,_ the detective thought to herself. She sat down a couple of seats away from Kaitlyn. After a few minutes of eyeing Kaitlyn and quickly growing concerned, she asked, "Are you okay?"

She hesitated and pushed her food away; her appetite quickly disappearing. "She's my mother," she said quietly before putting her head on the table and sobbing.

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**Yay? Nay? Let me know...  
**


	24. Chapter 23

**Hello my readers and reviewers!! Cut a long story shot, shall I? Finally got my fics on to this new computer. Then I lost my muse. I deleted half of this chapter and started again, then deleted more of it to get right to the end. Yes, you read it right. The last ever installment of Close To Home. And really? I'm glad. I could have dragged it on and on... but in the end, it was boring to me. So I think it's now time to bow out gracefully...  
Thanks to all who have stuck with this... Make these reviews count guys :) **

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"_How long did she get?"_

"Fifteen years with a non parole period of ten years," Casey replied into the phone. The Novaks and Alex were standing just outside of the courthouse in the warmth of the April air. She heard Olivia hesitate on the other end of the line.

"_How's Kaitlyn doing?"_

The redhead stole a glance at her niece who was talking with Alex and her father. "She cried a little. But I guess we'll see how much of an effect it has on her over the course of the next few months."

"_That little cry could be all she needed…"_

"It might be," Casey agreed. "We'll just have to wait and see."

"_How are you doing?"_

"I personally think she should rot in jail. But since that's not an option, I guess I can settle for fifteen years."

"_And Mark?"_

"Quiet." She shrugged, though she knew it would remain unseen by Olivia. "It's his wife, y'know?" Casey sighed. "I don't know what he's going to do with himself when he leaves and Kaitlyn stays..."

"_Well if the time comes that Kaitlyn wants to move back home, they can always sell up?"_

"I'd imagine it to be a cold day in hell before Kaitlyn agrees to move back to Jersey. But if Mark can find a job here then they could rebuild their lives –"

"_A day at a time okay, Case?" Olivia cut her off. She heard Casey sigh. "This isn't going to be an easy road. Our journey with her is only just beginning. She's not going to go back to the way she was over night. It will take a lot of time and a lot of patience from all of us; it could take months, it could take years…"_

"I'm prepared for that… I just don't think I'm prepared for the emotional backlash."

"_We've already been down that road, honey."_

"That was the backlash from the rape. We haven't faced the backlash from tearing her family apart. I'm expecting her to completely withdraw."

"_You don't know that she will."_

"You're right I don't. But the one thing I do know is to expect the unexpected when it comes to my niece…" She looked over to her where her niece and brother were standing with Alex; not one of them talking. She sighed quietly. "Liv, I gotta go. I'll see you when you get home tonight."

"_I'll try not to be too late. Bye Case…"_

Casey flipped her cell shut and walked over to the group with a small smile that she was sure wasn't appropriate. "Are we ready to go?"

"Go where?" Kaitlyn asked without looking up at her aunt.

She shrugged. "I was thinking maybe some lunch? Alex did you want to join us?"

"Actually, I have a meeting in chambers in twenty minutes, and I really should prepare," the blonde replied. "But thank you." She turned her attention to Mark and Kaitlyn. "I hope that everything works out for you both."

"Me too, thanks," Mark said.

Alex gave a small smile and a nod and walked back into the courthouse.

"So are we ready to go?" Casey repeated her earlier question.

"Yeah. Where are we headed?" Mark asked.

Before Casey could respond, Kaitlyn cut in; her face a mix of anger and sadness. "Let's just get something straight – this is not a celebration, okay?"

Casey shook her head. "It's not a celebration" she agreed. "It's just lunch."

The youngest Novak nodded her head once and headed down the stairs to hail a cab. To keep the peace, she went along for the ride, keeping the fact that she was far from hungry to herself and remaining quiet so as to not add more tension between the three of them.

--

Casey and Kaitlyn walked through the door of the attorney's apartment, each with a sag in their appearance for two different reasons - Casey was drained from the day's events, and Kaitlyn was upset by the day's events. The younger girl headed straight to the bedroom while Casey walked into the kitchen to make a coffee for herself and a chamomile tea for her niece - whether she wanted it or not.

Mark and Kaitlyn's goodbyes were brief. He had what little he brought with him packed into the car before the morning's sentencing and after lunch, headed in the opposite direction to his sister and his daughter. As far as Kaitlyn was concerned, she wasn't moving to another country - she was just a couple of hours away. She didn't want her dad making things weirder by creating a huge goodbye. So after she promised she'd call (or at least have Casey call him) once a week, a quick hug and an I love you, he left.

Kaitlyn was jolted out of her thoughts by a light knocking on the door. She sighed quietly and got up off the bed to open the door. She wanted to snap at Casey, instead she spoke quietly. "You don't have to knock. It's your apartment..."

Casey walked in, set Kaitlyn's tea on the bedside table and sat down on the bed. "Well, it's your apartment too now, so I think the knocking on the bedroom door in necessary." She nodded her head towards the mug on the table. "It's chamomile. I figured you could use a cup after today."

"Today only?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Casey gave her a sympathetic smile. "Thanks."

After a few beats, Casey looked over to Kaitlyn who had not made a move since opening the door to let her in. She sighed. "Did you want to talk about it, hon?" She asked softly.

Kaitlyn made her way over to the bed wordlessly and sat down. She thought about it. "No," she replied equally as soft, shaking her head. "There's nothing to talk about... Well nothing that hasn't already been said anyway..."

"They haven't really been said to me," the redhead mumbled.

"But at least they're being said..."

"Well that's the important thing," she said with a smile. "We'll be okay, you know."

Kaitlyn nodded her head. "Yeah," she agreed. "We will..."


End file.
